Guardians of the Dreamers Book 001
by The Universal Storyteller
Summary: This story is mainly, though not entirely, set in the Universe's Dreamrose Dimension. And it'll mainly explore the lives of any number of Senshi and/or their allies as they battle against assorted evil forces in them! I hope you all really enjoy it!
1. Chapter One: The First Dreamer Awakes

This particular story will primarily, though not entirely, cover roughly the nine or so calendar months immediately preceding the events of _Be Careful What You Wish For_. And it will also be mainly, if not entirely, in the same basic timeline and/or dimension of the Universe as the above story. That particular dimension of the Universe will be the Dreamrose Dimension of it. So the Sailor Senshi and their allies in it may not be exactly as they are in any certain currently-known _Sailor Moon_ official continuities, just so you all know this here well enough. And certain things in it will also be at least somewhat different, in other ways, from things in any of them or from things in our real world, for that matter, people. Please do honestly try to keep those facts quite in mind here as you each read this particular story and/or any other sufficiently-related stories to it, then.

There will be certain elements from various versions of Sailor Moon added as needed from time to time here, and I also will not be entirely sticking to one particular timeline of events from any of them. Instead, I will follow a certain timeline of events as the need then arises for me here. As things progress, you will then hopefully better understand why I will have written the story as I have, of course, everyone.

Well, I hope that you all really enjoy this story here, then. With no further ado, people, I now give you the very first chapter for the first book in the story series _Guardians of the Dreamers_! This is the Universal Storyteller signing off now, and hoping that you all will read and review this brand-new story here with plenty of quite clean, quite courteous, and quite constructive reviews, of course!

* * *

Chapter One: The First Dreamer Awakes

* * *

One September evening, a young girl was lying on her bed taking a nap for a while before a certain purplish cat secretly slipped through her slightly open window to change her life forever. It wasn't too long before the young girl was drawn away from her room into a life that she'd never even dreamed of having before. That girl was drawn away from her room into that life when she somehow heard, from quite some distance away, her best friend's rather urgent and rather fervent cries for help from a monster that was seeking to take all her energy.

This particular half-human, half-spider, monster had her best friend caught in a spider-like web of some sort on an interior wall of what appeared to be a fashion designer's studio somewhere in the Azabu Juuban part of Tokyo, Japan. And that friend of hers was quite terrified indeed of that monster, evidently, by the time that girl appeared on the scene, not as she had been in her bedroom, but as a young woman in some sort of mostly pink fighting uniform with a silver sash also present for it.

The young woman, who also wore a metallic gold tiara with a pinkish-white stone at its base on her forehead here, made her entrance on the scene by saying, "Let her go, or you shall most certainly face the consequences of not doing so."

"Who dares to interrupt my search for the Imperium Silver Crystal?" asked the monster as it was about to shoot another bit of webbing towards one Naru Osaka here.

"Who am I? I suppose I should tell you, because it's only fair that you know the name of your executioner if you don't let my friend go here completely. Very well, then. My name is Sailor Moon, and I am now pledged to fight for love and justice, on behalf of God's own Moon in this Universe of ours, foul monster."

"I never heard of a Sailor Moon. Well, no matter. I suppose I'll never need to hear of them again. For I, Morga, youma servant of the Dark Kingdom, will destroy you, and please Queen Beryl greatly, when I do, no doubt."

"We shall see, monster who dares to attack my friends and so many other innocent people here and now! Prepare to meet your doom!"

"Only if you can stop me somehow, Sailor Moon. I don't think you can, for you appear very weak and inexperienced at this sort of thing. I can sense the sheer fear now in your mind, and you don't really want to fight me."

"True, but I still won't let you harm my friend any more than I have to, if I can help it!"

"Then try to stop me, young one!" said Morga, as she waved one of her hands briefly, to shoot a bit of webbing directly towards Naru's face here, so that Naru wouldn't be able to speak while the two fighters squared off here.

"Oh, my! That's it, you're a goner, if I can somehow make it happen." From behind that sash, Sailor Moon then withdrew some capsules of some yet-unknown sort, and tossed them to the nearby floor somewhere between her and Morga. Several of those capsules burst, and provided a smoke screen of some sort, for at least a few seconds, if not even longer than that. They provided Sailor Moon with at least enough decent cover to allow her to then reach behind her sash yet again for some knives each a few inches long, at most.

Morga flailed somewhat blindly around in the studio, not yet knowing where Sailor Moon had gone in it, until she somehow made unexpected contact with her through one of her four non-humanoid legs. That same leg smacked Sailor Moon into the wall nearest her in the studio here. And Sailor Moon didn't rise from there for at least a few seconds after being smacked a little hard into that particular wall. But she was still not knocked out here, just the same.

While Sailor Moon struggled to rise from where she'd been smacked into the wall, the cat sprang briefly at Morga, hoping to buy Sailor Moon a bit more time to do that here. Morga was caught rather unaware briefly by the cat's attack here, but eventually managed to throw her off, and send her unknowingly right in front of Sailor Moon here. The cat said, "Sailor Moon, I've done what I can to buy you some time here. You must destroy that youma with your Moon Knives, somehow, or your friend will not survive, and so won't the rest of humanity, it seems."

"Where is she, then?"

"Ten feet directly in front of you, and heading this way. Can you see the strange marking on her torso well enough here now?"

"Barely. She nearly knocked me for a loop, cat."

"Aim your knives at that spot, and send them towards it until you run out of knives. Then you must finish them off with the tiara on your forehead. If you don't, then Morga will be able to do this sort of thing to more innocent people, no doubt."

"Is there something I can use to help me get to my feet here for a long enough period of time, then, cat?"

"You are within arm's reach of a small pillar on your left. It should allow you to stand up here well enough if you get a good enough grip on it." The cat, whose name was Luna, soon pushed Sailor Moon's left hand towards that pillar until it made sufficient enough contact with it, and then Sailor Moon rose as easily as she then could while remaining in such contact with it for at least a few seconds. By the time that Sailor Moon was standing fully upright again, then, the smoke screen that'd been provided by the bursting of several capsules from her was completely dissipated from everyone's view here.

"Prepare to die, and go to the Pit where you deserve to go, then, Morga! I don't know who this Queen Beryl is, or what the Dark Kingdom is, but you are toast! For attacking innocents, you shall receive the ultimate punishment that I can give you now! Death to your mortal body, that is!" Seconds later, then, many knives began heading Morga's way here. Morga defended herself as best as she possibly could here, but not even she could knock away all the knives that Sailor Moon then sent her way, while her opponent then dodged assorted blobs of webbing and/or various acids. Before Sailor Moon could finish her off, though, she managed to at least slow down Sailor Moon briefly with some webbing that semi-immobilized her, by keeping her from moving her feet, at least, for a little while. Yet, even that battle tactic of hers didn't last long. For the webbing that held Sailor Moon's feet temporarily to the floor where they had done so was rather unexpectedly pierced by six to eight red roses that landed near Sailor Moon's feet in a ring of sorts.

Of course, Morga didn't like that at all, and shouted, "Who dares to interrupt my fifty-course dinner here?"

"I am Tuxedo Kamen, and how dare you attack all these people here? What are you, even?"

"Morga of the Dark Kingdom, youma servant to Queen Beryl. I take it you wish to become my dinner as well, Tuxedo Kamen," said she, as Tuxedo Kamen suddenly shot the end of an expandable cane that he now held in his right hand directly at her. She attempted to bat it away, but, strangely enough, it became vine-like, somehow, and dodged between various limbs of hers. It then smacked her in the stomach at least long enough for Sailor Moon to perhaps get the best possible shot at the marking Luna had just mentioned mere moments before, and even knocking Morga to her back in the process of smacking her like it did now.

Sailor Moon wasted no further time, once she saw that mark well enough, in shouting, "Moon Tiara Action." Of course, Morga couldn't get away, and she soon turned very briefly into moondust, before vanishing completely from sight. After Morga vanished, everyone who Morga had drained earlier began to get their energies back from wherever they'd been sent, even Naru. Some more quickly than others, quite obviously enough. Before Tuxedo Kamen left, he said, "Well done, Sailor Moon. I look forward to our next battle alongside each other, for I somehow know that we've not actually seen the last of each other. There will be more monsters that will appear, it seems to me. And I know that you will fight them, from time to time. I will aid you all I can, when you do. Until next time, take care, young warrior. Pleasant dreams, then." Then he left.

Sailor Moon and Luna watched him go briefly, and then checked on all the people that Morga had drained here for a little while. Especially Naru, in fact. They eventually saw that everyone would be just fine, and then left just as safely and as quickly as they possibly could here for the young girl's house, for all the obvious reasons here, of course. Not long after doing so, then, they were both at that girl's house, where they each would be for the rest of the night, at least.

* * *

The following day, the young girl arose from her bed, and hurriedly dressed for school, seeing as she was already running at least a few minutes late for it, at her current pace. Luna watched that girl do so in almost a tornado-like manner, and thought silently to herself, "I wonder if this girl is going to be like this here for the rest of her time in school or not."

The aforementioned girl was blonde with buns in her long hair and she was still tying the bow for her school uniform when her mother called from another room of their two-story house, "Usagi, you're really going to be late for school if you don't hurry up, and your teacher will not be happy if you are, you know!"

"Yeah, Mama, I know. She always hates it when I'm late for class. I've heard it so many times before from Miss Haruna. What's for lunch?" asked Usagi Tsukino, as she thundered down the stairs towards the kitchen area of her family's house here.

"You'll just have to wait until you get to school to find out." Usagi was in the kitchen area by the time the last word left her mother's lips here, and already had a tall glass of orange juice and a few slices of buttered toast in her hands or mouths no more than twenty seconds after arriving there. Both the juice and toast were completely consumed in mere seconds, and then she fled out the front door no more than a minute or two later, in fact, barely remembering to grab her lunch bag from her mother's hands on her way out of the kitchen area here.

Five minutes later, she smacked into a certain young man with a green blazer, black shirt, and gray pants, and he noticed the rather unusual hairstyle she was then wearing here. He suddenly said, "Shouldn't you watch where you're going, Odango Atama?"

"Don't call me that, Minus-Zero!"

"What's the big hurry, Odango?"

"Heading to school, Mop-Brain! Thanks to you, I'm probably going to be even later than normal! Miss Haruna is going to give me plenty of detention now, no doubt!"

"Minus-Zero? Mop-Brain? What's the problem, Odango? Can't find anything nice to say about me? Is that what they teach you at your school now?"

"You're impossible! Oh, great! There's the blasted school bell! I'm so late now, it's not even funny! This isn't over, by a long shot, Buster!" She then fled the scene before they could argue even more with each other at the current time. And greatly hoped that her teacher wouldn't really pile on a lot of detentions for her, for that matter, here.

Yet, she was at least five minutes, if not even longer than that, late for her first class of the current school day. Miss Haruna gave her detention for the rest of the school week, in response to that here, due to the fact that she was so late for school here on the current day. Her best friend Naru came up to her as soon as she could do so quite well enough, and asked her why she was later than she often was to class.

Usagi told her as little as possible why, and soon dozed off during one of Miss Haruna's lectures for some school subject, only stirring briefly after Naru mentioned Sailor Moon's appearance at the studio she'd fought her first battle as a Sailor Senshi in. She listened only briefly to Naru's description of the battle, and went back to sleep for a good long while, until it was nearly lunchtime at her school for her and the rest of her classmates.

Rather uncharacteristically for her, she rather unexpectedly went up to her school's roof, and decided to eat her lunch there for once by herself. Little did she know that she would not be alone up there by herself. At least not the only one on the roof at that time, anyway.

Within two minutes of lunch beginning, then, she was already on the school's roof. For her stomach, at least, had somehow made her speed certain things up to at least some degree, if not to a great degree, from what they normally were for her. She soon found herself on a bench near a railing along the edges of that roof, opening her lunch bag to see what was inside it at the current time.

As she reached for a ham and Swiss cheese sandwich and a bottle of strawberry milk, a voice that she was not yet well-acquainted with said, from some yet-unknown distance away, "Be at the Crown Arcade by 5, if at all possible, Miss Tsukino. Ask for Miss Kiku Mahini."

"Why?"

"I can't tell you here. Just do so, and you will learn why I want you there."

"I'll see what I can do. Who are you, really?"

"You'll find out later, but not yet. In the meantime, enjoy the rest of your lunch. I have to get back to work now, in fact."

"And what if I don't show?"

"Then you will face the consequences of doing so, Miss Tsukino." Without another word, then, the unknown speaker was gone just as quickly as they'd appeared near Usagi here.

"Who was that?" wondered Usagi, once she realized that she was quite alone again on her school's roof here. She wondered for a little while about the unknown speaker and their words, as she also had her lunch here. Eventually, though, she finished it, and had to go to her first class right after lunch, of course.

The rest of the school day went relatively without incident for her. At least for the most part, anyway. Even detention went relatively without incident, and she was soon released for the rest of the day from her school's grounds by Miss Haruna, for the obvious reasons, of course.

For about the next hour, more or less, after being released from school for the rest of the day, she then found herself wandering wherever her feet might lead her. Whether consciously or not, she eventually found herself in the Crown Arcade, and at a stool near the main counter gradually sipping a Neapolitan-style milkshake provided to her by the Crown Arcade's somewhat handsome manager, one blond-headed Motoki Furuhata. As she was sipping that same milkshake, she rather suddenly remembered what the yet-unfamiliar voice had told her earlier that day while she was still at school here. And she asked Motoki, "Motoki dear, do you, by any chance at all, actually know of anyone by the name of Kiku Mahini?"

"I believe so. Why do you ask?"

"Because I was told to meet her by some yet-unknown speaker while I was at school today. I have no idea who that speaker was, of course, but she said that I was supposed to meet someone by that name here, it seems to me."

"I see." He thought for a moment, and said, "Maybe Unazuki knows who she is better than I do. Let's just see if that's the case here."

"I suppose it's worth a shot. Though I don't know if she might recognize the name well enough, of course, Motoki."

"I think you're right, for some reason, but let's just see if she recognizes the name here, just the same, okay?" At Usagi's nod, Motoki then called out, "Unazuki, would you please come over here for a minute?"

"Sure, I have to come over there anyway to relay a few orders to you, Motoki. So why not?" asked a red-headed girl a few years younger than her roughly college-aged brother, more or less.

Seconds later, Unazuki was near her brother and Usagi here, handing Motoki a few order slips from her order pad here. "What's the matter, big brother?"

"Usagi doesn't seem to recognize the name 'Kiku Mahini' here, and she told me that someone said she was supposed to meet another person by that name no later than 5 pm, if at all possible."

Unazuki thought for a minute or two, and then said, "Kiku Mahini is a new student at Usagi's school, and the niece of a history professor at Toudai University, it seems, if my sources of information are accurate enough about such things. She lives with her aunt and her aunt's husband somewhere in Azabu Juuban, though just where in it, I'm not quite sure at the moment. Her parents are evidently dead, due to a rather unexpected plane crash a few years ago, as well."

"And just what does she look like?" asked Usagi.

"I don't really know for sure. She seems rather camera-shy in her life. Word has it that she tries very hard indeed to avoid any and all kinds of cameras whenever possible in it, for some yet-unknown reason. But she still has to deal with them periodically, at least whenever the inevitable school pictures have to be taken, of course. She copes with them as best as she can, whenever she can't avoid them, but really doesn't like them at all, from what I've heard about her and cameras."

"How does she try to avoid them, then, whenever she can, Unazuki?" asked Motoki, as he attended to the various orders that Unazuki had just relayed to him here.

"It seems she almost always wears a pair of sunglasses or some sort of mask over her face, if and whenever possible for her in her life. At the very least, if not also a long cloak and/or anything else, in it, anyway. She is rather close-mouthed to most people in her life, and doesn't get along well with a lot of people, especially whenever they periodically say that her parents were snobs, among other things. Kiku seems to be about a year older than Usagi, at least, if not even older than that, going by her known physical looks. But she still apparently has the personality of one who somehow seems to be much older than her known physical looks would suggest, for some yet-unknown reason here."

"Do you know if she has any close friends yet for sure, Unazuki?" asked Usagi.

"Not to my current knowledge, at least, but I suppose I could still ask around, just the same. Perhaps my usual sources of information might be able to dig up some more data about her, somehow, in time. Well, I suppose I'd best see to our patrons here, of course, before they start getting antsy about their orders here."

"Good idea, Unazuki," said Motoki, as he handed her the necessary items for the orders she'd given him slips for earlier. "Usagi, it's nearly 5 pm now. What do you want to do while you're waiting to meet this young woman, then, if you can?"

"I suppose I should go try to blast some bad guys on your Sailor V game machine here, while I'm waiting. I mean, that's one of my favorite things to do here, you know."

"All right. Hope you do better than you often do on it, then." Motoki soon turned away from her as she finished her milkshake, and then Usagi headed off towards the aforementioned game machine in the arcade. She was soon rather engrossed in the game, and was doing fairly well when her attention was diverted by some patrons deciding to try to crowd her as she played the game, seeing that she was doing much better than she normally did in the game. Eventually, the patrons crowded her so much that she was unable to avoid being blasted a few times by several of the virtual monsters in the game, and lose all her lives while doing so. She then entered her initials into the game as needed, and then moved away from it, once she saw that she wasn't likely going to be left alone well enough to be able to play it any more right now without unnecessary interference.

The aforementioned crowd eventually broke up, but not before she was rather suddenly and rather unexpectedly grasped by yet-unfamiliar hands and pulled away from its current members into another part of the Crown Arcade. Not only that here, but she was also just as suddenly and just as unexpectedly blindfolded by those same hands. She was brought to a certain part of that place, in fact, that most people would never be aware of in their lives, most likely, if it could possibly be avoided at all, somehow. She didn't know who was bringing her to that yet-unknown part of the Arcade, but she would find out soon enough, just the same.

The still-unknown hands brought her to that part of the Arcade, and soon pushed her down on a pink and silver chair in it behind a mostly gold table with a crescent moon pattern on it. Then the hands left her alone, and the hands' owner then sat down on a couch elsewhere in that part of the Arcade. When they were settled well enough on that couch here, the strange voice finally spoke. "Miss Tsukino, you may remove your blindfold, but don't open your eyes immediately. Or at least don't open them very fast, anyway. Otherwise, your eyes will not be able to adjust as easily as they will need to here soon enough, I think."

"All right. But when I open them fully, I want some answers, if I may have them here."

The yet-unknown speaker's voice spoke again, "Of course," as she then somewhat carefully adjusted the half-mask then on her face, and the mostly purple and gold cloak around her body, at least a little bit here. "By the way, I am Kiku Mahini, just so you know."

"I see. Why have you brought me here, then?" asked Usagi, once her eyes were able to fully take in Kiku's current appearance here well enough. Kiku appeared to be about fifteen years or so of age, and she was about 5'3" and perhaps 115 pounds, more or less, with black hair mostly worn in a ponytail, where possible. Her ears had clip-on chrysanthemum-like earrings on them, and one crescent moon hung on a chain from each of those chrysanthemums for her earrings, as well. Her cloak bore on its back several dozen small gold crescent moons on silver vine-like fringes lying along its edges, even as it fell to just above her own ankles here, by the way. The cloak was fastened in the front by a mostly black and copper-colored chain behind a mostly silver bow and a mostly gold brooch of some sort, for that matter.

"Because one of my associates by the name of Luna told me to bring you here. She says that you need to have some things that she forgot to give you at the battle last night. Yes, I know about the battle, for I was one of the people at the fashion designer's studio last night, believe it or not. And she also told me, somehow, that you are Sailor Moon, for that matter." She said this as Usagi began to explore the room that they were both now in here, in fact. Usagi soon found a jukebox near one wall of that moderately well-furnished room here. A platform was near that jukebox, and several pictures of assorted celestial bodies, for instance, were in various places on three main walls of the room they were now in here. The only main wall that was relatively devoid of any pictures at all was the main wall in which the room's main door was in here.

"I see. And just how well do you know her, by any chance, if you don't mind me asking?"

"My aunt helped deliver her when she was born, if I remember such things well enough here and now. And she and I often spend time together. She often keeps an eye on certain things for me whenever I'm otherwise occupied, in fact, believe it or not, Miss Tsukino."

"I see. Where are these things she has for me, then, if I might ask you this?"

Kiku rose from the couch she was then on, and moved to a vending machine briefly, selecting a few sandwiches from it for them both. She soon tossed two of those sandwiches to Usagi, and kept two for herself. That done, she then set her own sandwiches near the nearly-touching points of the crescent moon pattern on the table. Then she moved to a certain cabinet along one main wall of the room, and soon withdrew a calculator-like communicator, a mostly pink pen, and an antique-looking analog-style watch from it. As she handed them to Usagi, she told them just what they each were, and just what they each were meant to do for her in the future.

The communicator would be a useful item to Usagi in the future, once other Senshi and their allies started to appear in it. The pen would be able to make her appear as if she were something else, if and whenever needed and/or possible. While the watch would serve as a detector of her potential fellow Senshi and/or their future allies, for that matter. Usagi didn't yet understand just how those things might be able to do as Kiku told her they might, but she'd hopefully come to understand how soon enough, before it was too late to do so well enough.

Usagi and Kiku talked for quite a while in the room here before Usagi eventually realized it was nearly 7 pm now. Kiku still had much to discuss with Usagi at the current time, but still ultimately let her leave the room behind for the Tsukino residence, just the same. Kiku watched her go briefly, and then left the Crown Arcade through a back entrance she'd secretly found for it that very morning, once the way to it was sufficiently clear of any potential traffic anytime in the next few minutes at least, if not even longer than that. Once she was far enough away from the Arcade, and behind some bushes safely enough, she then suddenly changed from a humanoid form to a feline form. That done, she then set off directly towards Usagi's home here, following the somewhat pleasant scent of Usagi's current perfume with barely detectable traces of strawberries and chocolate now present for it, strangely enough. A few moments after then beginning to head towards Usagi's home, at most, she soon took to assorted trees and/or roofs as the need then arose for her to do so here. She followed that particular scent of Usagi's all the way back to her home, and soon sprang to the tree outside Usagi's window, once it was then sufficiently safe for her to do so well enough at the current time. By the time that she entered Usagi's room as she'd done the evening before, then, Usagi was still downstairs having supper with her family, for that matter. Kiku, or more accurately, Luna, soon curled up in a ball on Usagi's bed near the foot of it, and began taking a nap in it while she waited for her new charge to return to her room in her family's house.

Usagi appeared back in her room by 9:30, not yet noticing Luna's current presence on her bed here, somehow, and soon moved to a wooden desk in it. She worked for at least a little while on her homework, and then set it aside here, once she'd done it at least well enough to suit her here at the current time. It most likely wouldn't be done quite as well as many might like, but she still did it as best as she then could here, most likely. After setting it aside, then, she rose from the chair behind her desk, moved to her dresser before taking out a pair of mostly pink rabbit-covered pajamas and a few other personal items, closed that dresser drawer, and left her room to get a brief pre-bedtime shower. By this time, Luna was now starting to stir on Usagi's bed, but not yet fully awake.

Usagi didn't return to her bedroom after her shower for about five or so minutes. But when she did, she finally noticed Luna's current presence on her bed. She carefully picked Luna up and moved her over to the chest sitting just below her window. Then she just as carefully placed her on a particular cushion there that Kiku/Luna had actually found somewhere deep within her closet. A mostly silver and gold cushion that had already been placed there, quite mysteriously enough, by the time that Usagi had actually returned home from her semi-secret visit to the Crown Arcade, by the way. Usagi didn't really know who had put that particular cushion on that chest just yet, for sure, but she still had at least one idea, just the same, here.

After placing Luna on that cushion here, she then studied Luna for a while, even as she drew back the covers on her bed a bit. And even after she climbed into bed and began reading from one of her various manga books that she sometimes stashed away in various places all over her room. By the time she finished the particular chapter of one of those books that she was now reading, it was nearly 10:45 pm, and Luna was fully awake again here.

The two of them soon locked eyes with each other, and Luna soon said, "Usagi, those kinds of things aren't necessarily good reading material for young girls such as yourself, I think."

"I think not, Luna. Why do you say that?"

"They seem too far-fetched often, for one thing, and they don't have much of a good plot often, it seems."

"Oh, then what would you have me reading, if at all possible, Miss Furball?"

"More educationally-minded materials, for instance."

"Why? What's the point?"

"These kinds of things might rot your brain and make it harder for you to fight as Sailor Moon, I think. And to perhaps find the Princess we're eventually going to have to find to save this world from the forces of the Dark Kingdom, for that matter."

"What Princess?"

"The Moon Princess, Usagi. She is the one who most needs the Imperium Silver Crystal now in order for her to help save this world, at least, from the forces of evil, whenever and wherever they might show themselves, in fact. We and our various allies must actually defend this world, at the very least, as best as we each possibly can, until such time as she eventually appears, if not even longer than that here. And then we must all try to protect her to the best of our respective abilities, once she does, if and whenever possible in the future."

"Just how long do you think that will be, then?"

"It's hard to say just yet, Usagi, but I think it will be quite a while indeed before we can actually retire from the business of fighting evil now. Seeing as a monster mentioned a Dark Kingdom after something called the Imperium Silver Crystal, you see."

"And just how do you propose we locate this Princess or the Imperium Silver Crystal before they do, then, Luna?"

"Central Control hasn't seen fit to share that information with me just yet, for some reason or reasons I'm not actually aware of right now."

"Who is Central Control?"

"I don't really know just yet, believe it or not. But they still told me a little while ago that I was supposed to start searching for the Moon Princess's Guardians, at least. You were the first person that I had a strong enough feeling about when it came to the idea that you might possibly be one of her various Guardians, Usagi."

"So you don't really know just who this Moon Princess might be?"

"None at all. I have a feeling, somehow, though, that Central Control knows at least a little bit more about her than I do, at the current time. However, I was told to start searching for the Princess's potential Guardians, and so that's what I've just begun to do here."

Usagi and Luna talked with each other a little bit longer before Usagi began to tire of their current discussion here. So Luna let her get to sleep, and Usagi soon turned off the lamp on her bedside table here, just before falling asleep in her bed here sufficiently well.

Luna quietly listened to Usagi's calm breathing for a little while, before just as quietly slipping out her window again. She only did this here, though, once she was quite certain that Usagi was not at all likely to arise again for at least the next few hours, if not even longer than that. Luna soon began exploring the general area of Usagi's house, at least, in feline form. She only shifted into her humanoid form of Kiku Mahini once it was quite certain that she was not going to be seen or heard or detected by anyone else who didn't need to know of her shape-shifting ability here, of course. Supposing they didn't already know of it, by the way, in their respective lives, quite naturally enough.

After about an hour or two, perhaps, of exploring the area around Usagi's house in an average radius of about two miles, then, more or less, Kiku set off for the place where her supposed aunt lived with her husband and herself. She arrived there by no later than 1 am on Thursday, September 6, 1990, and headed to a bed already prepared for her use there, where she remained for most, though not all, of the pre-dawn hours. Kiku napped there for at least a little while in that bed, only rising about 30 minutes before dawn would actually begin to make its presence known, and hurried through her usual morning routine. Which included a rather quick shower, just as quick breakfast, and a rapid departure from that place, supposedly so that she could eventually get to school on time here. Her supposed aunt and uncle knew of her secret ability to shape-change, and soon wished her a very good day here, of course.

As soon as they themselves had left for work elsewhere in Tokyo, then, Kiku began running, in a somewhat circuitous manner, towards Juuban Junior High. She did this here just so that she could briefly check up on Usagi's current state of affairs back at the Tsukino residence, but only after first shifting back briefly to her feline form, once it was safe enough for her to do so here well enough. As usual, Usagi was being her usual sleepy-headed self by the time Kiku/Luna left the Tsukino home's grounds again, quite naturally enough. Kiku/Luna soon thought to herself, "That girl needs to learn to not stay up quite so late, I suppose, and not to have quite so many sweets and things, as well, maybe," just a little while before shifting back into her humanoid form in a secure enough location here. Kiku eventually arrived at school about ten minutes before the first bell was due to ring to begin classes for the day there, in fact.

Usagi arrived at school herself just barely on time, for once, and that surprised many, for she was rather well-known to often be late for school in her life. Haruna was somewhat surprised, to say the least, but didn't say much, if anything, to Usagi about her barely punctual arrival in class on the current day. Nor did many, if any, of her classmates here, for that matter.

Naru eventually sneaked a question towards Usagi without anyone else hearing her do so, and that question was, "What made you get here on time today, if I might ask you this here, Usagi?"

"Apparently, according to Mother, some singers and/or film performers are expected to visit our school as part of our education about careers we might have after high school. Including such singers as Minako Aino, for instance."

"Ah, I see. I remember you liking her music quite a bit, come to think of it."

"She's not too bad of a singer, even though she's only 13 right now. She debuted in England a while back, if memory serves me well enough here."

"Even though she's actually Japanese?"

"Yes, I believe so."

Eventually, Naru and Usagi had to shut off their secret conversation with each other here, for the obvious reasons, of course. But before they did, they promised to try to get together at the Arcade again after Usagi's next detention session, just the same.

Little did they both yet know that their next meeting would actually not happen just as they'd planned it to be now. For something would make that quite impossible here, though nobody knew just what it might be here yet, in fact.

Their day at school went reasonably well for both of them at it, and they soon parted for at least a little while from each other, quite naturally enough. Naru left the school's grounds, seeing as she didn't actually have any detention for the current day on it, while Usagi was forced to remain on them for at least a little while longer.

Kiku didn't like this one bit, but still had to accept it here, just the same. While she was still waiting for Usagi to finally get out of detention here, then, she found something to do on a red and green bench near its main gates. Specifically, she read a Pearl Buck novel until her now-hidden feline form suddenly somehow picked up barely-perceptible signs of another youma's appearance somewhere in Azabu Juuban.

Kiku rose from the bench and hurried off to a nearby martial arts center that she knew of elsewhere in Azabu Juuban, and borrowed, with the consent of the center's owner, several weapons from their stockpiles of the same. Then she set off for the location where the battle was most likely going to be fought in, once Sailor Moon was drawn to it as well. She arrived in humanoid form in that location a few minutes before Usagi was due to get out of her current bit of detention. The youma currently in question here was now in the process of draining several dozen people at a certain park in Azabu Juuban when Kiku arrived at it herself.

Kiku said, "Stop, in the name of God's own Moon, or you will have to be destroyed for not doing so here."

"Who are you, and why are you here?"

"My name is unimportant to you, and I am here to defend the innocent, no matter who they might be, whenever I possibly can do so well enough. If you're seeking to take over my world, then you're going to have to go through so many of our world's people to be able to do that well enough, foul monster. For we will not surrender our beautiful world to beings such as those from your Dark Kingdom, if we can possibly ever avoid it at all somehow!"

"You think you can stop the great Dark Kingdom which I, Biakota, youma servant of Queen Beryl, now serve? You're welcome to try, if you dare, young girl."

"I may not ultimately stop your Dark Kingdom or you all by myself. But perhaps I can at least slow you and your Dark Kingdom's plans to conquer or destroy this world at least a little bit, if not a lot, just the same."

"Enough talk, then, human. Let's fight, if you wish to try to stop or slow me and/or the Dark Kingdom down here to the best of your ability." The half-wolf, half-humanoid Biakota soon sprang at Kiku with fangs bared and flashing claws. Kiku fended off those claws and fangs for a bit, and got some licks in on Biakota in the process. But not without feeling Biakota's claws raking through her school uniform's skirt once or twice, just the same. Those claws never managed to touch Kiku's skin, but they still managed to rake through her skirt once or twice, at least.

Kiku and Biakota fought for about five or ten minutes before both Sailor V and Sailor Moon were eventually drawn to the scene from totally different directions in different parts of Tokyo. Yet neither Sailor actually saw each other when they arrived well enough on the scene. Or at least not at first, anyway. Both Sailors then watched Kiku and Biakota battle for at least a little while, if not a long while. Even as they also both checked on the various people that Kiku had interrupted Biakota's draining of here at least a little bit.

Just as Kiku was beginning to tire quite considerably indeed in the current fight here, a few rather well-thrown crescent moon-like boomerangs suddenly appeared to block several flashing claws aimed at Kiku's currently-unprotected abdomen by Biakota. When Biakota turned to see who might have actually thrown those boomerangs in her and Kiku's direction, Sailor Moon suddenly swooped in and somehow carried Kiku away from Biakota here, while Biakota's current attention was temporarily diverted by Sailor V here.

"How dare you attack a young girl such as this particular one here, or any of these many other innocents here? She was just trying to protect them from you! I am Sailor V, and on the behalf of the once and future Moon Kingdom, I will punish you, foul monster!" Sailor V stood then on top of a lamppost somewhere in the park as she said that now, in fact.

"And on behalf of God's own Moon, I will as well," added Sailor Moon, once Kiku was sufficiently enough out of harm's way here. Biakota looked at both Sailors and eventually decided to spring first towards Sailor V. Sailor V flashed a whip or chain of some kind at Biakota when Biakota was close enough to her to allow her to do that here, and that whip or chain soon stunned Biakota here quite considerably. Biakota hit the ground very hard indeed below herself, after being hit by Sailor V's chain, and didn't rise for at least a few seconds here well enough.

Before Biakota could rise well enough to gather her feet again sufficiently well under herself, Sailor V called out to Sailor Moon, "Finish her, while you still can. For if you don't, she'll come after us again, and I may not be able to keep her from doing so here well enough."

"All right, Sailor V, I will. Moon Tiara Action!" Biakota soon briefly became moondust before vanishing completely just like Morga had done the night before. Once that was done, those who had been drained of their energies soon began regaining them here well enough.

"I suppose we should both get out of here now, then, Sailor Moon, before the media, at least, actually do come here and try to talk to us here."

"I suppose so too, but why?"

"If they did so, they might somehow begin to pry in our lives, and try to figure out who we are in our civilian lives, I think. Which is something we superheroines must avoid for as long as possible, if we can, Sailor Moon. For if our enemies get word of who we are in our civilian lives, that knowledge could very well put many people we might know in our civilian lives at considerable, if not great or grave risk, you see."

"I see. Very well. Will I see you around again at a battle, then?"

"You'll just have to wait and see on that, Sailor Moon. You might want to work on that aim of yours with your tiara, though, I think. Your aim was just about half an inch off-center when you sent your tiara at the monster just now. Until later, then, take care, of course." Without another word, then, Sailor V soon bounded away over several nearby trees and/or rooftops, before Sailor Moon could ask her anything else at the current time.

After then seeing that many of the other people were now beginning to stir quite considerably in the park, she soon left it behind, for the obvious reasons, of course. Just before she left it, though, she looked in the certain place where she'd hidden Kiku some length of time before.

But Kiku was now actually gone from it, somehow, for some reason or reasons that Sailor Moon wasn't yet aware of in her own now-double life here. In actual reality, while Sailor Moon and Sailor V's attention were both sufficiently diverted by Biakota's presence, Kiku had secretly switched from her humanoid form to her feline form, leaving the weapons she'd used behind secretly hidden in the bush that she'd been hidden behind by Sailor Moon in the process of doing so. Before anyone else could spot her well enough here, then, she left the park as Luna, and set off for her supposed aunt's residence here.

Sailor Moon wondered where Kiku went for a few seconds, at least, until the now-inevitable sounds of ambulances and/or media outlets' employees began reaching her ears from at least a few blocks away here. Heeding Sailor V's advice here, she soon found a rather secure place indeed to hide in at least long enough to power down, and then did so, just as soon as she could do so quite well enough here and now.

Several minutes or so later, then, Usagi was back home again, and she was already changing out of her school uniform into more casual clothes than she normally could wear at her school. She chose to wear a pink sleeveless turtleneck, a plain white T-shirt, and a knee-length cream-colored skirt over a pair of mostly white socks and simple black pumps. After changing into those desired clothes of hers, she soon grabbed up a medium-sized bunny-covered purse from the top of her dresser and set off for the Crown Arcade for her planned, yet-delayed, meeting with Naru there.

When she appeared there, Naru asked, "Where have you been, Usagi? I've been waiting for you here for a while. Why didn't you come here right after your detention?"

"I found myself drawn somehow to a park earlier. Not consciously, mind you, but still drawn to it, just the same."

"There was a monster attack at a park earlier this afternoon. Were you one of the people drained there, by any chance?"

"No, why do you ask?"

"Because the park you most often go to around here is the park where the monster attack happened, and I wondered if you were there when they appeared."

"No, I wasn't. What happened there before I arrived, then?"

"According to the news, some girl came to the park while the monster was in the process of draining several people of their energies, it seems. This girl fought that monster all by herself until both Sailors V and Moon appeared on the scene well enough, according to footage from various security cameras located all over the park's grounds. Eventually, Sailors V and Moon engaged the monster, and Sailor Moon ultimately destroyed that monster with her tiara, if the news report is to be sufficiently believed here well enough."

"I see. I wonder why Sailor V didn't appear at the battle at your mother's fashion design studio, though, Naru."

"I don't know. But I do know that this is at least the second time that Sailor Moon has now appeared during a battle here, just the same."

"What do you think of both of them?"

"Both seem reasonably cool, for some reason. Though I really don't know just why, Usagi. I wonder if I'll actually see them and get to talk to them both for a long enough period of time someday."

"Well, if they ever happen to show up again at any more monster attacks, I suppose that might be an eventual possibility, of course."

"Sure it is, I believe. Well, enough talk about monsters and such things, then, I think. Let's go listen to a few of Minako Aino's songs for a while, okay, Usagi?"

"Should we do it here or at your place?"

"Let's do it here, at least for a while. It's my mother's bridge night with several of her high school friends, you see, and she doesn't really want me back home again here. Or at least not at the current time, anyway. By 9 tonight, she does, of course. But just not yet, by the way, Usagi."

Naru and Usagi found at least a few things to do over at least the next hour or so, before Usagi eventually had to return home for the rest of the night. Both friends parted with smiles on their faces as they did so, then.

Usagi arrived home just before supper was about to be served there. Her mother told her it would be ready to have very soon, so Usagi didn't stay too long in her room at the current time, of course. Although Luna, who by now, was back in Usagi's room tried to get her to stay in it, Usagi still headed back downstairs mere minutes, at most, after arriving home, in fact.

The Tsukinos had their suppers with each other for about half an hour or so, and periodically discussed various things that had happened to each of them on the current day, at least. Shingo said, "Usagi, when are you ever going to stop getting detentions, by any chance?"

"When I'm actually able to get enough sleep on a night, I might just be able to do that well enough. And if a certain brother of mine doesn't often be a real pest at times, I might actually also get at least a bit more of my homework done from time to time, for that matter."

"It's not my fault that you often stay up late reading your comic books, among other things, Usagi, for instance."

"Maybe not, but they often help me relax at least a little bit, if not a lot, if and whenever I might feel rather stressed out by certain things in my life. Including some things that I'd really rather not actually discuss with you here right now, if ever, for various reasons, Shingo."

"Whatever. But you won't likely ever get a boyfriend with the marks you normally might pull down in school, just the same, Usagi."

Usagi was about to shoot a comment back at him of some kind, and unintentionally tipped off her mother Ikuko that she was starting to get really mad at Shingo here. Ikuko glanced at both her children briefly, and then said, "Shingo, that is enough. Usagi doesn't need to hear comments from you like the ones you just made here, I think. Usagi, I am not happy, though, after hearing that you got detention after every day of school this week. You must do better at getting to school on time, if at all possible, you see. Miss Haruna doesn't really like it when her students arrive late to school when they can possibly ever avoid it at all, you know."

"I am quite aware of that, Mother. But I still try as best as I can to get to school on time, just the same. I can't help it, though, that I normally sleep like a log, if I'm not too mistaken here."

"Maybe not, Usagi, but your mother is right. You must do better at getting to school on time, if and whenever possible. Think of it this way, if you must. The more time you spend in detention, the less time you can spend in doing things that you might actually want to do more in your life."

"I suppose so, Dad. But it's still very hard to do, just the same."

"Is there something you want to discuss in private with me later, by any chance, Usagi?" asked Ikuko. "You know that if you ever need to discuss certain things with me, my door is always open, so to speak."

"I know, Mother. But let me try to work on those things by myself at least for a little while longer, before I ask for your input. I'm not meaning to blow you off, so to speak, but I just need to see if I can handle them all by myself right now."

"Of course, Usagi. I understand perfectly. Or at least I think I do."

The rest of supper went by in relative silence if and whenever possible, then. A little while later, then, Usagi was allowed to return to her room for the rest of the night, if she so desired. Which, in fact, she did.

As soon as Usagi was quite sure that she and Luna would most certainly not be disturbed at all for the rest of the night, not even by pesky younger brothers named Shingo, behind a locked bedroom door, Usagi said, "I suppose you want me to discuss the battle I was seen at here, Luna."

"Of course, Usagi." The two of them discussed it at some length, and Luna eventually asked Usagi, "Why didn't you jump into the battle right away when that girl was battling the youma, once you arrived on the scene well enough?"

"I was observing the battle, and trying to attend to several of the people that had earlier been drained by the monster. Sailor V didn't jump into the battle right away either, for she was also doing the very same things that I was then doing, Luna."

"I see. And what if the monster had drained or killed her, then what?"

"Didn't happen. So what's the big deal?" asked Usagi, as she began working on at least some of her current homework from school here.

"Many beings from the Dark Kingdom are beings who might often not mind killing their various victims or captives, if the mood ever strikes them, according to Central Control. And word has it that they also will seek to try to kill the Moon Princess if and whenever she might ever appear anywhere at all, if at all possible, Usagi. So we must do all in our power to protect the people of this world, at least, if not any other worlds as well, against whatever evil forces who might seek to conquer and rule anywhere at all in the known Universe. No matter what the cost may actually be to us or anyone else sufficiently like us, you see."

"Just what have you gotten me into here, then, Luna?"

"A life of battle, unless we are somehow able to defeat enough evil forces to permit peace to reign on Earth, at least, for a long enough period of time, I think. And to avenge the loss of a long-dead civilization, at least, that actually fell when it did just because of the very same Dark Kingdom that we are now fighting here, Usagi. The still-missing Moon Princess is from that very same lost and long-dead civilization, by the way, just so you know this here well enough."

Usagi contemplated this in relative silence for at least an hour, if not longer, as she worked on her homework at her desk. When she was done with her homework, she then began preparing for bed, and said nothing more to Luna for the rest of the night. The look she shot Luna when she exited her room for a pre-bedtime shower shut up Luna for the rest of the night as well, for that matter.

Usagi had a quick shower, and then went back downstairs briefly to get some black cherry yogurt for herself as a bedtime snack. That done, she soon went back upstairs to her room, climbed into her bed, had her yogurt, and was quite soundly asleep with all necessary lights off no more than fifteen minutes after climbing into her bed again. And so she slept.

* * *

There you go, everyone. There's the very first chapter for the as-yet-untitled first book in my brand-new _Guardians of the Dreamers_ story series. I hope you all really liked it here quite a bit indeed. If so, please do seriously consider leaving me some rather clean, rather courteous, and rather constructive reviews for this chapter, everyone. And before I actually happen to forget to say so well enough here, somehow, Sailor Moon and all related characters, et cetera, are the property of Naoko Takeuchi and certain other people and/or entities, unless otherwise stated or sufficiently obvious to you all here and now, or at any time yet in the future. However, certain other characters, et cetera, in this particular story of mine, at least, are or will be of my own original creation, of course. That is all for now, at least, I suppose, then. TUS out.


	2. Chapter Two: The Second Dreamer Awakes

Here's Chapter Two for _Guardians of the Dreamers_, everyone. To make things relatively simple here, then, I'm just going to say this, at least. Sailor Moon gets a new ally, in the form of Sailor Mercury, at the very least. Certain other things will eventually happen as well in this particular chapter, of course. But for you all to find out just what they are, you'll all just have to read it, quite naturally enough. I hope you all enjoy this chapter, and that you'll all leave me some rather clean, rather courteous, and rather constructive reviews or private comments for it, as well, for that matter. With no further ado, then, I hereby give you all Chapter Two of _Guardians of the Dreamers_! TUS out.

* * *

Chapter Two: The Second Dreamer Awakes

* * *

Two more battles on Saturday and a few days later, at most, it was now Monday, September 10, 1990. Usagi arrived minutes late for school, as usual, due to a rather unexpected collision with the young man that she'd run into earlier that called her "Odango Atama" some time before. That collision, and the resulting verbal spat, both helped to make her late for school by about five or so minutes, more or less. Miss Haruna, however, was sort of in a somewhat more pleasant mood here than she normally was in whenever such a thing happened for her students at the moment, so Usagi managed to actually avoid detention this time for being late to school here. For Miss Haruna had been asked out on a date by another teacher at Usagi's school. Whenever Miss Haruna got asked out on dates, she at least occasionally wasn't so strict about certain things with them as she might normally be. This was one such case here, by the way.

After Usagi eventually arrived in her classroom on the current day, Miss Haruna said, "We have a brand-new student here, everyone. And she will be sitting in on our classes for at least today, if not permanently. Her name is Miss Ami Mizuno, and she spent one day with each of the other classes in your grade here at Juuban Junior High. She transferred here from another school over the summer, and I want you all to try to make her quite welcome here, if at all possible, for that matter."

"Of course, Miss Haruna," chorused most, if not all, of Usagi's classmates here, as a matter of apparent formal respect here. Although, privately, at least, some of them were not so enamored of the idea that a new student might join their class here for at least one reason, if not more than one.

Miss Haruna soon got to her first planned lecture of the school day. And Ami, a short girl with glasses and black hair that seemed to have at least a touch of some blue shade in it, listened rather attentively to it here, much to the considerable surprise of many, though not all, of Usagi's classmates here. As Haruna taught, Ami took plenty of notes in a very formal-looking style of note-taking, and at least sometimes even in what were actually various foreign languages. Languages such as Korean and German, for example, as the mood then struck her to take them here during Haruna's current lecture in her class. She didn't always have to keep her eyes on Haruna during the lecture, but at least from time to time during it, she did so apparently by course of habit.

After Haruna had taught her students for at least twenty minutes, if not longer, with her first lecture of the school day, she soon let her students mingle for a while with each other, if they so desired to here. Most, if not all, of those students then broke up into their usual groups of students. But not Usagi, at the current time here. For she noticed that Ami had seemed to give off an apparent sense of wanting to be alone, and that somehow bugged Usagi here.

Usagi didn't really know Ami all that well just yet, of course. But, somehow, she still began to suspect that Ami really didn't want to be here. And that she might even be rather lonely, and rather withdrawn, for some yet-unknown reason or reasons in her life. So Usagi's innate curiosity was then piqued rather considerably here. She soon found her feet leading her to Ami's desk in the room, and tossed a brief look or two at Naru as if to say, "Please don't say a word to anyone here. I somehow have a strange, yet pleasant, feeling about this girl, and I'm going to try to explore it."

Naru nodded secretly back at her, and then drew everyone else's attention other than Ami's somehow away from where Usagi was then heading in their classroom here. When Usagi was close enough to Ami's desk to perhaps get Ami's attention well enough, Usagi then quietly tossed a certain cassette from her own purse onto Ami's desk rather suddenly, having a strange suspicion somehow that Ami was secretly also a Minako Aino fan.

Of course, that certain cassette got Ami's attention immediately. Ami turned to find the smiling face of one Usagi Tsukino looking right at her here. The girls studied each other in relative silence for at least a few seconds, and then Ami asked, "Do I know you, Miss?"

"My name is Usagi Tsukino, and you really look like you need a friend to show you around here now, Miss Mizuno."

"I don't know if I want to stay in this class from now on while I'm in this school. I am only supposed to be here in this class today, Miss Tsukino."

"Please stay, Miss Mizuno. For some reason, I want you to stay in it here for as long as possible."

"Why?" Ami shot Usagi a rather questioning look here, not yet knowing what to expect of her well enough, of course.

"You seem to be lonely, and I want to help you, if I can."

"What for? I like my solitude, Miss Tsukino. Why should I give that up?" asked Ami, as she glanced back down at some of the notes that she'd taken a little while before here.

"Because you seem to need someone to talk to, whenever the need arises."

"Why?" asked Ami, not taking her eyes off the notes she was then looking at here for at least a few seconds, for that matter.

"I noticed you taking a lot of notes while Miss Haruna is lecturing. Also, I noticed that you had a lot of books of various kinds sticking out of the bag near your feet here during it."

"So, what's so wrong about that?" Ami looked again at Usagi's face and head, and noticed the buns and long pigtails that Usagi was then wearing her hair in here.

"Nothing, of course, but too much studying might dull a person's brain, I think. Not that your brain is like that, of course. But if I were carrying around at least twenty books on the subjects that you seem to be considerably interested in, I think my brain would be quite dulled by the time I got through the third or fifth book, at most, based on the average thickness and size of the books I saw sticking out of your bag."

"I see. Not that it might make much difference to you in the future, though. But I suppose that I should tell you, for some yet-unknown reason, that I plan to be a doctor of some kind when I get out of school well enough for a living, if I possibly can, Miss Tsukino."

"And that's why you're carrying around so many books here?"

"Yes, I suppose it is. I want to know as much as I can possibly know in my life, so that when I become a doctor, I can be the best doctor I can possibly be, Miss Tsukino. What do you want to be when you get out of school, then?"

"To tell you the truth, Ami, I really don't know just yet."

"Miss Mizuno, if you please." Ami shot her a look that seemed to say, "Let's both not get too informal just yet, please." Usagi barely caught that look, and decided to briefly tone down her apparent sense of bubbliness here. But only briefly, in fact.

"How do you normally do in your studies, then, Miss Mizuno, if I might ask? I generally don't do very well in mine." Usagi frowned as she said that here, by the way.

"I always get top marks in my classes, or nearly always, if not always. I even go to a certain cram school at least two or three times a week a little ways away from here, for that matter."

"More school after a typical school day? Why?"

"Because I am trying to ensure that I can eventually get into the best possible medical school that I can get into later in life. That's why."

"And more studying might help you do that?"

"Yes, I believe so."

"But grades aren't everything, Miss Mizuno."

"They mean a lot to me, and I really don't want to disappoint my mother by getting bad grades if I can possibly ever avoid it in my life, Miss Tsukino."

"Mother generally isn't all that happy when I don't do well in my classes, but she still realizes that I'm me, just the same. And I'm not always going to be the best at everything, you see. Even she knows that, by the way, Miss Mizuno."

"Don't you want to please her with your grades?"

"Of course I do, but for some reason I can't actually understand, many things in school seem very hard to understand. Hence my usually poor grades in most of my subjects here at Juuban Junior High, Ami."

"Miss Mizuno, please."

"That's too formal here, I think, for the both of us. Isn't your given name Ami?"

"Of course it is. But I would still prefer for you not to use it in these circumstances, just the same, Miss Tsukino."

"Well, I generally prefer informality myself, so please call me Usagi, Ami."

"Is that a request or a demand, Miss Tsukino?"

"Take it as you wish. But I still think you have a rather beautiful given name, and you should not be afraid to let other people use it whenever the situation permits them to."

"Even in situations like this one?"

"Yes, even in them, Ami."

"I see. But I don't agree."

"You can't lock yourself in a cage of ice forever, Ami. Somehow, I can tell that you're so lonely, for some reason I can't quite explain here, and that your loneliness is beginning to trap your heart in a cage of ice. It is also not good that it is apparently keeping you from making friends and letting the song in your heart be heard, at least in your mind, if not elsewhere in your life as well."

"You don't know me, Miss Tsukino. So how can you say these things about me here and now, then?"

"I may not know you just yet, but we're going to become quite close friends to each other soon enough, it seems to me, for some yet-unknown reason to me, Ami."

"And are you afraid of me and what you might learn about me, if we might, Miss Tsukino?"

"No, not really. I mean, why should little old Usagi Tsukino be afraid of someone like you, Ami? Sure, I might not be quite as brainy as you, and not quite into studying as you are. But I still generally like who I am, even if many people might not do just that as well in my life."

"But what if I get a bad grade or two, at least, because I didn't study when I probably should have, Miss Tsukino?" Usagi shot her a sort of barely-pleading look, and Ami caught it, somehow. "What if getting at least one bad grade, if not more than one, costs me a chance to be the best possible doctor that I can be in my own life and professional career, Usagi?"

"Then you forget about it, and move on, Ami. Otherwise, you're likely going to dwell on it, and it might hold you back even further, I think. As a matter of fact, I happen to think that there might be certain other things that'll eventually become more important to you than constantly studying, for that matter. And I think that might just happen someday very soon indeed here, for some yet-unknown reason, by the way."

"You seem rather carefree in your life, from the way that you apparently half-listened to Miss Haruna during the lecture earlier."

"You noticed that, Ami?"

"Yes, I did, Usagi," mused Ami, still somewhat unconsciously.

"I can be serious at certain times in my life, but I don't generally like to be if I don't have to be, Ami. It's just not the way that I typically am. Why should anyone try to deny the way that they were truly meant to be in their respective lives, more often than not, if it can be avoided at all somehow? You were not meant to spend your life in total isolation, if not near-total isolation. If you truly want to be a doctor as you say that you do, you will have to spend time with people and get to know who they are in order to help them as best as you possibly can. Even I, who certainly isn't the world's best student, at least academically-speaking, happen to know that everyone needs to deal with other people from time to time, whether they might wish to or not."

"I don't want my heart broken, Usagi."

"Nor do I. But the path that your heart seems to be on now somehow suggests to me that is a very strong possibility if you continue on it for a long enough period of time in your life."

"What if my heart shatters because of a broken heart?"

"I don't think it will if you don't actually let the cage of ice totally trap your heart, somehow, and freeze it quite solidly cold someday, Ami. True, you might eventually have a broken heart, unless the one you might eventually marry later on in life is your first love, I think."

"I don't want to fall in love with anyone, or have anyone fall in love with me, if it can possibly be avoided at all, Usagi."

"There is someone out there for everyone, I believe. Even you, if I'm not too mistaken about such things here."

"But I'm not interested in such things."

Usagi said, after a few minutes of rather silent studying of Ami here, "You've never gotten a love letter, I take it."

"No. Never. Basically the only times that most boys want to be with me for quite a while in my life, it's because they want me to help them with their homework. They have never actually seemed interested in me in such a way as you seem to be thinking of here, it seems to me."

"So I take it you don't like them."

"I can't tell you for sure just yet whether I would or not, Usagi. Sure, I've gotten at least the occasional Valentine's Day note and/or card from my classmates before, but most people generally do when they're young kids, right?"

"I suppose so. What are you getting at?"

"Most kids our ages don't necessarily give out Valentines to everyone in their class of the gender opposite to themselves any longer, do they?"

"No, I suppose not. What's your point?"

"By that time, most people are not so inclined as to be so liberal with their gestures of romance towards members of the opposite gender to themselves. There's never really been anyone that I've really wanted to be with before as a potential girlfriend or wife, either. I don't typically daydream about such things as romance, Usagi. I've seen many people pursue it, and break each other's hearts in the process. No, I don't think there's someone out there for me somewhere."

"Sure there is. He just hasn't appeared yet, if he ever will, I think, in your life."

"And what of you? Do you have someone you might be interested in perhaps dating, at least, if at all possible, then, Usagi?"

"I don't know yet for sure. When do you get out of your cram school later?"

"Depends what I'll have to do at it later. Why do you ask?"

"I want to take you some place I often like to go to, if I can."

"I'll think about it. Now I suppose we had best start getting to work on some of the work that Miss Haruna just posted on the chalkboard," said Ami, all of a sudden, as she then glanced at it here somewhat briefly indeed.

The rest of the morning went reasonably well for Usagi and Ami and various other people then near them both here. Usagi eventually heard, as she was heading elsewhere on the school's grounds, "Miss Tsukino, meet me on the roof when you get to have your lunch, if at all possible. I need to talk to you for a little while."

"Is that you, Kiku?" asked Usagi, once she was quite sure that nobody else besides her heard Kiku's voice here well enough, in fact.

"Yes. Come alone, and make absolutely sure that you're not followed when you do."

Some length of time later, it was finally lunchtime again for Usagi at her school. So she soon went up to the roof to have her lunch and meet with Kiku as requested by her.

When Kiku was sufficiently satisfied that Usagi was far enough from any other person at the current time on that roof, she then came out from where she was briefly hiding, and came up to her, in very short order. She soon took a seat near enough to Usagi to be able to communicate with her at a relatively quiet voice level, but still far enough away as not to easily appear to be hanging out with her here and now, just the same, in fact.

"All right, Kiku, why did you want me to meet you here earlier?"

"Central Control has detected a potential threat risk to our mission to find the Princess and to defend this world, at least. They have detected an unknown awakening power signature within the last twelve to 24 hours, and they need you to try and find out if they are a threat to our plans or a potential future ally for us with them." Somehow, with just one free hand, Kiku then folded a certain sheet of paper into the form of a paper airplane and suddenly sent it towards Usagi here after taking a bite of the tuna and cheese sandwich she now had in her left hand. The paper airplane landed quite easily indeed in Usagi's lap as Usagi was then taking a bite of a cinnamon roll from her lunch bag.

Usagi downed the rest of her roll, and then opened up the folded airplane. She soon saw a suddenly-snapped picture on the sheet of paper, and that picture was of Ami. It showed Ami exiting a library, and the date on the picture was Saturday, September 8, 1990. It had been taken at about 8:30 at night by an unknown photographer.

"What makes Central Control think Ami might be a potential threat risk?"

"Central Control was out on a routine patrol of the area near the library in the picture, and they rather suddenly had a rather unexpected vision just before the picture you see was taken. This vision of theirs had this girl in it, somehow, in fact. And they suddenly got a very strange feeling that there was more to that girl than met the eye, and a somewhat unpleasant feeling that a sense of potential danger might be hanging around her at the current time, at least. So they soon snapped a picture of her before she was too far away for them to do so well enough and easily enough at that time."

"What am I to do, then, according to Central Control?"

"Keep an eye on her, at least. If she proves to be a threat, then you may have to neutralize her, at least, if not eliminate her."

"No, I will not eliminate Ami. Call me crazy, somehow, if you wish, but I have this strange feeling that she is not a potential threat, ultimately. While she might possibly be an unknowing associate of our enemies, she is not the kind of person who deserves to be eliminated."

"What if she is working for or with the Dark Kingdom?"

"Then I will act as I feel the applicable situation actually warrants me to act. But I still will not eliminate someone without sufficiently just cause to do so, just because Central Control may think of them as a potential threat risk. If Central Control actually wants me to eliminate various other people just because they may be potential threat risks to the mission I might now have, then they can just find someone else to work for them instead. For I'll most certainly not ever take an innocent person's life if I can possibly ever avoid it, no matter what."

"At least check her out, okay?"

"Fine, I'll check her out, at least. But I still won't actually eliminate her without sufficiently just cause to do so at any particular time at all here. Is that clear, Kiku?"

"I don't think that's wise, Usagi." Kiku rose and moved over to the nearest railing on the school's roof, just before beginning to study the area around the school to at least some degree, if not to a great degree here.

"You didn't answer my question."

"Have it your way, then, for now, at least. It's clear. But if you don't do what needs to be done here, then Central Control will be most displeased, at least, with you."

"Well, if they don't like it, tough. I never asked to be drafted into this mission in the first place that I now seem to have."

"So you're not going to budge on your Anne Frank-type position?"

"What does she have to do with this sort of thing?" Usagi soon began to pace on the roof here, as she consumed even more of her lunch here.

"Oops, wrong dimension. In another dimension of the Universe, a certain young girl by that very name secretly kept a personal diary while in hiding with several other people during part of a world war, at least, if not also during the events leading up to that world war. She believed, according to her diary, that despite all the really bad things that then were happening in her world at that time, people in it were generally still good at heart, at least, if memory serves me quite well enough here and now."

"And you're suggesting?"

"That you might have the same general feeling about most people in your own life, I believe."

"What happened to that girl?"

"She died in a certain camp where she and others were taken after they were found and captured by the society that was seeking to eliminate them entirely from at least one continent of her world, if not from all of it, permanently. But her diary somehow still survived, and her story lives on still to this time in the dimension of the Universe which she wrote it in."

"I see. What's wrong with trying to see the good in people, Kiku?"

"Nothing, I suppose. But you should still be aware that people aren't necessarily what they might normally appear to be in their lives."

"So what if I might seem to be unaware of what might just be the case here, Kiku? I know a lot more in my life than you might seem to think here, in fact. And I actually happen to think that you and Central Control are just trying to pull a fast one on me here."

"We'll see about that, Usagi. Her cram school starts at 5 pm, and lasts until 7, I believe. Don't be late, then."

"I will check it out. But I don't want to hear from you again until then, if I don't have to."

"Very well, then. I'll go, but don't forget about what we've talked about here, Usagi."

"I won't. Now I'd strongly advise you to scram here, Kiku, before I start to get really mad at you here." Usagi began to look for things to perhaps toss easily enough here at Kiku, if she possibly could. But nothing was satisfactory enough for her here at the current time, at least not in that regard, if not others as well. So Usagi had to resort to a rather upset and semi-angry look at Kiku to try to get her point across to Kiku well enough here.

Kiku saw that look, and fled seconds later, just as soon as she could do so well enough. Usagi then quickly finished the rest of her lunch, and went back inside the school as needed, before it was actually too late for her to do so well enough here. The rest of the current day at school was relatively uneventful indeed for her. And she also kept an eye on Ami periodically whenever she possibly could do so well enough and safely enough, for that matter.

* * *

After school, Usagi headed briefly to the arcade for a bit of a pick-me-up, so to speak, for herself, seeing as she had failed at least one more somewhat big test in school that day. A pick-me-up in the form of a cinnamon and vanilla milkshake with a cherry on top, in fact. She had that milkshake for a while, and chatted for just a little bit with Motoki there whenever possible until nearly 4:15 in the afternoon. On her way home, she noticed Ami heading off towards her home briefly prior to her planned cram school time. All of a sudden, as if out of nowhere, Luna came flying right at Ami here, much to the surprise of both Usagi and Ami here, of course.

Luna landed right on Ami's shoulders, and Ami began gently stroking Luna under her chin, who suddenly purred pleasantly, much to her own surprise here. Even as Ami quietly talked to her and wished that she could have a cat of her own to live with her, for that matter. Luna unconsciously played along here with Ami, as if she couldn't help it, until Usagi's voice suddenly broke into her thoughts here sufficiently well. When her brain registered sufficiently that Usagi had just called out to both her and Ami, but especially to her, Luna then sprang off Ami's shoulder onto the nearby ground, and went over to where Usagi was. Usagi picked up Luna, and the two young girls soon got to talking to each other here for a little while. Usagi returned to the Arcade again, but this time with Ami in tow, not too long after that. A game of Sailor V later, Usagi hadn't scored very well at all. Ami took a turn at the game, and soon ended up with a very high score indeed by the time that she noticed that her next cram school class was due to start. So she fled, unintentionally dropping a computer disk from out of her bag on her way out the door.

Motoki soon found the disk, and gave it to Usagi. Then Usagi and Luna were about to try to return it to Ami before her class, and Usagi might have been able to if a certain young man hadn't shown up near them first. Usagi and Luna fled from the outside of that cram school in apparent fear, for some reason or reasons that young man couldn't yet understand, if he ever would. They hid a few blocks away, at most, before Luna got the idea that they should try to find out what was on that very same computer disk. So the two of them soon found a computer store where they could check it out safely enough and well enough. Luna did most of the work in checking out the various things then on that particular disk here, by the way, in that regard, and she eventually said, "Usagi, it very strongly appears here to me, at least, that your potential future classmate Ami is now working with the Dark Kingdom, at least, if not actually working for them instead. You may actually just have to take them out here, if you know just what I happen to mean by that."

"Don't tell me what to do, furball. I'll do what I feel I have to do, and I won't let you keep me from doing so, if I can possibly ever avoid it at all, somehow."

"If the world is destroyed because you didn't take her out ...," started Luna.

"Then so be it, if it comes to that someday and somehow. But I still will actually not take her out, as you so eloquently just put it here, without at least one, if not more than one, sufficient enough and just enough reason to ever do so at all, if I can possibly ever avoid doing so, Luna."

Not much later, then, Usagi and Luna were both back outside Ami's cram school just before 5 pm. When it was safe enough for them to both do so well enough here, then, they slipped inside it, and into an empty storage area for a brief time. Then, once Luna was quite sure indeed that it was safe enough for Usagi to use her Disguise Pen here, Usagi quickly decided to disguise herself as a school superintendent here.

Once disguised well enough as such, Usagi then went in search of Ami's classroom, with Luna tagging along as safely and as quickly as she could here and now after Usagi. Usagi soon burst into the room, and asked who was in charge of Ami's class. As she did so, she also noticed that most of the students there had been at least partially, if not totally, drained of their energies. Ami popped her head up, not recognizing Usagi behind her disguise, and asked what the matter was. Usagi briefly accused Ami, at Luna's still-secret urging, of being the one that had drained the other students' energies and of being a youma. Ami didn't understand what she was talking about, and said so. Luna secretly told Usagi, still in the guise of a school superintendent, to then transform, and become Sailor Moon, and Usagi quickly did so. As soon as she did that here, though, the Dark Kingdom's currently-present youma actually appeared, and confirmed Usagi's true suspicions that Ami was not actually a youma or working with or working for the Dark Kingdom. The youma, which called herself "Gakarishu" soon began attacking Sailor Moon here and now. First with various questions, and then with assorted sharp objects whenever she couldn't or wouldn't answer said questions correctly enough. Quite fortunately enough indeed for Sailor Moon here, she was actually then able to somehow duck or dodge away from those assorted sharp objects at least well enough to avoid being hit by any of them at all. While she was otherwise occupied, the youma then began to try to drain Ami's energy in much the same manner as she'd drained the other students' energies some length of time before.

Ami resisted the youma's efforts at least long enough to cause a certain quite-unexpected mark to suddenly appear on her forehead. After which the youma soon threw her to the ground, and began to attack her. As Ami did what she could to dodge the youma's attacks against her here, and while Sailor Moon was otherwise quite occupied by trying to keep from being actually grabbed by all the other students in the room besides Ami at the current time, Luna suddenly sent a pen of some sort skidding across the floor to Ami here.

A few words apiece from each of them later, Sailor Mercury was now present in the room here. At Luna's direction, Sailor Mercury then shrouded the room quite completely in fog here, so that the youma couldn't see where she, Sailor Moon, or Luna actually were anywhere at all in it. The other students all collapsed quite unconsciously indeed to the floor near Sailor Moon almost immediately afterward. The next thing anyone knew, Sailor Moon had taken off her tiara and attacked the youma with her "Moon Tiara Action" attack here. The youma was soon moondust, just before that vanished completely as well.

Not more than a few seconds later, then, the fog dissipated just as quickly as it had appeared in the room. After checking on all the students at least a little bit here, then, Sailors Moon and Mercury soon left the room and the area of the cram school behind with Luna, for all the obvious reasons, of course. Usagi, though, was still not very happy with Luna here, just the same.

Ami eventually parted from both Usagi and Luna for the rest of the night, much to Usagi's somewhat reluctant acknowledgement of the need to do so here and now. And they went to their respective residences not too much later, as well, when the need then arose for them to do so here, of course. After doing so, and after making quite sure that it was safe enough for her to actually do so well enough, Usagi then began to chew out Luna for what Luna and Kiku had nearly made her do. Luna didn't really want to hear it at all from her still-new charge, but Usagi gave her absolutely no other choice at all but to listen to it here, for that matter, until she finally saw fit to stop chewing them out well enough here.

Not long after that, then, and not long after Usagi had supper with her parents and brother Shingo, Usagi then got to work on some of her just-assigned homework, at least, if not all of it. She worked on it for at least an hour or so, if not longer, before starting to get rather tired again. So she set aside her books and things, and soon began to prepare for bed. She was back in that bed of hers by no later than 10:30 or so, and quite soundly asleep again no more than about fifteen minutes after that time, in fact. And so she slept.

Once Luna was quite certain that Usagi wasn't going to wake up anytime soon if she didn't have to and couldn't avoid doing so, she went over to her charge's window, opened it, and left their room behind through that window. Springing to the nearby tree branch, then, as she thought, "Usagi, you must learn that certain people and things may not always be as good as they might seem to you in your life. Learning this might just help you stay alive a whole lot longer and stay healthier than if you don't actually do so at all in your life," Luna began leaving the immediate area of Usagi's house here.

When she was far enough away from it, and in a sufficiently secure and sufficiently deserted alley, she soon shifted from her Luna form to her Kiku form. That done, she soon set off for the Arcade, and began to consider certain things at least at some length, if not at great length, here. Such as her next potential courses of action here, for example. She also wondered how long it would be before the third Sailor Senshi would appear to fight alongside Sailors Moon and Mercury, at least in terms of those who she'd most likely have to find and train sometime in the near future, if at all possible, in fact.

By the time she got to the Arcade, it was mostly empty, and nearly 11 at night. Motoki, Unazuki, and their good friends Mamoru Chiba and Reika Nishimura were just about the only people still in the Arcade now at this time of night. There were still about a dozen or so others there, but they were all almost done with their respective meals here, for that matter. Kiku soon walked up to Motoki, and ordered a whole apple and cherry pie, a tall pitcher of chocolate milk with some cinnamon, some ginger, and some grape juice added to it, and four quarter-pounder cheeseburgers with no lettuce, no mayonnaise, no mustard, and no onions on any of them. Kiku was, for once, somewhat hungry, when she wasn't normally this hungry for human food at one sitting. Or at least not at this time of night, anyway. But she hadn't had the opportunity to go hunting for prey for her feline side for at least a little while, if not a long while, so her usual inclinations to not eat or drink so much at one time were set aside for at least the time being. Motoki asked, "Are you sure you want all this food here, miss?"

"Yes, Mr. Furuhata, I am. I'm rather hungry and thirsty at the moment, so I am quite sure that I do here." Kiku then took the rough equivalent of about fifty dollars in US currency out of a purse she then had with her, and placed it on the nearby counter in front of her. She then said, for that matter, "I'll give you fifteen percent more if you have all that food and drink ready for me in another ten minutes, at most."

"I see. Well, I suppose we had best do what you wish us to do here, then. Unazuki, would you care to help me here, if it's not too much of a problem for you now?" asked Motoki, as he then began to attend to Kiku's order

"Sure thing, Motoki." Unazuki moved to help her brother in very short order.

After both Furuhatas were occupied with getting Kiku's food and drink ready to a sufficient enough degree here, Kiku soon turned to both Reika and Mamoru, who were each sitting on nearby stools in the Arcade, "My name is Kiku Mahini. My schoolmate Usagi Tsukino has told me that you're both good friends with Mr. Furuhata, if her sources of information are sufficiently accurate here."

"Her sources are accurate enough, Miss Mahini. I am, in fact, Motoki's girlfriend. While Mamoru is Motoki's best friend."

"I see. It seems Mamoru also isn't nice to Usagi very often, if at all. Why is that, Miss Nishimura?"

"I really have no idea about why that is yet, if I ever will, Miss Mahini. But their somewhat frequent verbal spats have already started to get the usual Arcade patrons buzzing from time to time, according to Motoki. Things were rather boring for a while before they first encountered each other, and business wasn't going all that well at the Arcade before they did so, it seems, for quite some time indeed. All of a sudden, the two met, and sparks soon started flying between them both, for some reason or reasons nobody around here can yet figure out, if I'm not too mistaken here," said Reika.

"She's a bubble-headed twit at times. She can't seem to keep herself from falling all over the place quite often, it seems," said Mamoru.

Kiku said, "She's still young, and growing, Mr. Chiba. Of course she's not always going to be so graceful at times. She's a girl, for crying out loud!"

"She eats a lot, and yet doesn't seem to gain much weight, for some reason."

"So, maybe she has a very fast rate of metabolism. Have you even thought of that possibility? Or that she might exercise quite a bit, for example, Mr. Chiba?"

"Yes, but Odango Atama doesn't seem to be that kind of girl, Miss Mahini," said Mamoru.

Kiku shot him a look of barely-hidden anger, and then said, "It's not nice to call her Odango Atama, Mr. Chiba."

"Her hair looks like it all that time, it seems to me, at least whenever I see her around Azabu Juuban, Miss Mahini. So I call her that quite often. Yes, I know it's not actually her real name, of course. But something I can't quite explain somehow makes me call her that nearly every single time that I encounter her around here, if not all the time, in fact."

"Her name is Usagi Tsukino, not Odango Atama," said Kiku.

"That may actually be true for her, but she doesn't normally call me by my own real name either, whenever we happen to somehow encounter each other anywhere at all in our lives. To tell you the truth, though, Miss Mahini, I don't really think it's any of your business here just what I may or may not actually call her in our lives."

"Well, if I ever happen to find her crying for whatever possible reason or reasons because of you picking on her or you doing something that's not nice enough to her, then I most certainly will make it my business. Is that quite clear here, Mr. Chiba?"

"Understood. I'll keep that in mind, to be sure, of course. But, really, how we might ever treat each other in our lives is not any of your business here. No matter what you might actually think here, Miss Mahini," said Mamoru. He said all these things here and now, even as both Motoki and Unazuki then began bringing Kiku the food and drink items that she'd actually ordered mere minutes before.

Moments later, Kiku began to consume those food and drink items, doing so in as lady-like a manner as she possibly could at the current time. She also made conversation to at least some degree with Motoki, Unazuki, Mamoru, and Reika here while she did so, in fact. Among the things that she learned was that Minako Aino was now working on another album of songs for potential release within the next year or so. And that there would be a Sailor V video game challenge tournament some in the near future as well, for that matter. Eventually, Kiku finished all the food and drink items that she'd actually ordered here, and left the Arcade behind again. But not without leaving a tip of fifteen percent for Motoki for those same items, of course.

Kiku soon went to her supposed aunt's residence, and went to bed not long after getting there. And she then slept in them as well, for at least a few hours, if not even longer than that, quite naturally enough, before rising to start her next day at Juuban Junior High. She left for school no later than 7:15 in the morning, in any case at all, by the way.

* * *

Several hours later, once school was over sufficiently, Kiku left the school's grounds and headed to the Arcade where the secret room for the Senshi was located, so that she could prepare for a meeting there with Usagi and Ami. She'd asked Usagi to actually bring Ami there earlier that day while all three of them were still at school then. At first, Usagi was rather reluctant indeed to do that, but she eventually agreed to do just that, after Kiku agreed to buy her several new manga volumes for Usagi to read later on if and whenever possible. It wasn't a deal that Kiku really liked having to make, for the deal would require her to buy Usagi at least seven new manga volumes within the next month, at the very most. Usagi soon gave her a rather good-sized list of various manga series she liked to read, if and whenever possible, for Kiku to choose those new volumes from, while also marking off the various manga volumes that she already had actual copies of so far in her own mortal life. And Kiku could then choose any of the manga series in question to select those volumes from, just so long as none of the books were duplicates, for that matter.

While Kiku was waiting for Usagi and Ami to arrive at the secret room for the Senshi, she also spent at least a little time getting things ready well enough for both girls' arrival at it. For instance, she pulled out another communicator and another watch quite similar to the ones that she'd given to Usagi earlier. However, the new communicator and the new watch were both primarily blue, due to Ami's Sailor Senshi uniform being largely blue in color, in fact. Also, she pulled out a necklace with beads in the approximate shapes of medieval-looking chess pieces and which had an appropriately-sized blue sapphire teardrop-shaped pendant at its base. The chess piece-like beads were lighter-colored to what would be Ami's right whenever she wore the necklace, and darker-colored to what would be her left whenever she wore it. The darker beads were navy blue, while the lighter ones were light blue, in color, by the way. A new pen was not necessary for Ami here, though, simply because she'd gotten one earlier when Luna had sent it her way during the battle with Gakarishu, of course.

Kiku also prepared some food and drink items for the other two girls while they were still absent from the secret room, and hoped that they'd arrive there soon as she did so. Once she felt she'd done enough preparation of the room for their eventual arrival there, then, Kiku pulled out some school text books of her own, and began studying from them for a while. She did this until about 4:45 pm, only stopping when Usagi and Ami finally arrived in the room as needed, and once Usagi had gotten Ami to sit down at the table well enough, in fact.

Usagi soon introduced Ami to Kiku, and vice versa. Ami studied Kiku for a bit, and then said, "Miss Tsukino said that you have a few things for me, at least. And that I needed to talk to you for a while, as well, Miss Mahini."

"Yes, Miss Mizuno, I do. I am an associate of Miss Tsukino's, as you are now. Our mutual associate Luna feels that I now need to give you at least a few things for your future use as Sailor Mercury. I happened to pass by your cram school earlier, and see you battle alongside Sailor Moon as Sailor Mercury, against a monster of some sort. She somehow caught me witnessing the battle, and asked me to give you at least a few things for your future use as Sailor Mercury."

"I see. And just what are these new things that you're supposed to give me here, then, Miss Mahini, if I might ask you this here and now?"

Kiku soon pointed to the new communicator, watch, and necklace, and told Ami what they each were, and how they were meant to be used if and whenever possible. She also told Ami that a mini-computer of her very own would often be stored secretly indeed within the pendant at the necklace's base. And that it could actually be withdrawn from or stashed in it at any time simply by saying a certain code word or phrase that was then valid for her at a particular time in her life. Every so often, Ami would be able to change that currently-valid code word or phrase. And nobody else would hopefully be able to somehow gain sufficient access to her computer while it then was actually within the pendant if she didn't give her prior consent for them to do so well enough, at any particular time in the future, for that matter.

"I see. What is this mini-computer meant to be used for, then, if you know?"

"Primarily Senshi-related business, but I suppose it can also be used whenever you're in your civilian form, Miss Mizuno. It should help you analyze the various youma or other enemies that you and several others will come to face in battle, at the very least, I believe, and hopefully allow you to find any number of ways that they can possibly be defeated and/or destroyed in those battles of yours and your comrades-in-arms. This new mini-computer of yours will be much more powerful than many, if not all, of the computers that you may be more familiar with in your life, I think. At least I really do hope that it will be, anyway, for that matter."

"I notice that it has a rather stylized version of the most common astronomical symbol of Mercury in gold on its case."

"Yes, for you actually are the Senshi from Mercury now."

"How long, then, will I most likely have to be that in my life? I don't really want to spend the rest of my life as a Sailor Senshi, if I don't absolutely have to. I really do want to be a doctor of some sort when I get older, and being a Sailor Senshi just might possibly interfere with that goal of mine."

"Well, perhaps you and all of your various comrades-in-arms, no matter who they might ever happen to be, will somehow be able to cease being Sailor Senshi someday. And perhaps you'll all then just be able to somehow pursue your own personal goals in your own lives without actually having to be Sailor Senshi in them at all. But we'll all just have to see if that'll somehow ever come to pass, though, of course. Usagi actually isn't too keen on the idea of being a Sailor Senshi, and a possible Guardian of the Moon Princess either, Miss Mizuno. But she'll still fight evil while we're still trying to find both the Moon Princess and the Imperium Silver Crystal, at least."

"And just where does Sailor Mercury fit into all of this, if I might ask?"

"According to Central Control, she is one of the Moon Princess's Guardians. They also say that the Moon Princess had four Guardians. We haven't found them all, but hopefully, we'll find them all before the Dark Kingdom somehow finds the Imperium Silver Crystal."

"What is the Imperium Silver Crystal?" asked Ami.

"The Imperium Silver Crystal actually belonged to the Moon Kingdom's Queen just about a millennium ago. It was somehow lost after the Moon Kingdom was destroyed, and it's not been seen ever since, it seems. Supposedly, from what little Central Control's actually been able to somehow find out well enough about it, so far, and to also tell both me and Luna, the still-missing Moon Princess might just be able to eventually use it to help defeat the Dark Kingdom that's now begun to revive in our own time after somehow being trapped within it just about a millennium ago once and for all."

"Supposing, of course, that she and that Crystal can be found well enough, I take it?" asked Ami, a few minutes of silent contemplation later.

Kiku nodded, even as she took a bite of a bologna, tomato, and cheese sandwich then in her hands. She thought for a minute, and then said, "The Dark Kingdom was sealed for a time inside the Imperium Silver Crystal that we will have to find and control, but they have now broken the seal placed on them, and begun to hunt for that Crystal. That, and to also try to gather enough energy to perhaps revive their chief leader who was also sealed away within it by the Moon Kingdom's Queen somehow, it seems to me."

"And we are supposed to oppose them as best as we possibly can, even as we still seek for the one that is meant to wield the aforementioned Crystal, and as we also attempt to protect her from them, right?" asked Usagi.

"That seems to be sufficiently correct, according to what Central Control now seems to think here, Usagi. They aren't exactly sure about what each of the Moon Princess's Guardians are actually supposed to be like in their own respective mortal lives. But they still think that they all need to appear and awaken before the Moon Princess can finally be revealed, just the same. There evidently have to be at least four of them found before the Princess can be revealed, no matter who she might happen to be, for that matter," answered Kiku, as she took a few sips of some tea then in front of her here.

The three young girls conversed for at least a little while later, and Ami eventually asked, "Are we the only people who might possibly be able to access this place somehow?"

"You mean, 'Are Senshi and their allies the only people who might possibly be able to access this place?' don't you, Amy?"

"Yes, that's what I mean, it seems. It came out wrong, evidently."

"Then the answer to your question is 'Yes, if it can possibly remain that way forever somehow,' Ami. At least I hope that our enemies, no matter who they might ever prove to be, will never somehow be able to access this particular place, anyway, of course."

"I see. And any time we might ever need to talk in private with each other somehow, for example, we can then come here, perhaps?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact, that should generally be the case, if and whenever possible, Ami."

"I see. Well, I am not too keen on this idea of being a Sailor Senshi just yet, either, if I ever will be, but I suppose I could see how much good I can do as one for at least the time being, then, Kiku."

"Hopefully, Ami, you will then be a major help to the team as Sailor Mercury for as long as the need arises for you to be, of course."

"And hopefully, someday, I will then be able to retire from being a Senshi so that I can pursue my own plans for my life?"

"Yes, I really hope that you can. But it may be quite a while before you can then do that, though, somehow. I hope you realize that well enough here, of course, Ami."

"I do. But I wish that I'd have had more of a real choice in the matter here, just the same."

"So do I, and so does Usagi, at least in terms of her actually having to be a Sailor Senshi now, in fact, Ami. But perhaps you two Sailor Senshi can both somehow hold the line until at least a few, if not a lot, more Senshi actually start showing up and joining your team in your periodical fights against the Dark Kingdom, at least."

"I don't know just how well our chances of us doing that might actually be just yet, Kiku," said Ami. "Usagi's Moon Tiara Action attack doesn't really seem all that powerful to me, and my own Mercury Bubbles Blast isn't exactly an offensive attack, from what I can currently gather about them both here quite well enough."

"Well, more offensive power should be coming your way eventually, if what Central Control now seems to think here is accurate enough, somehow. We don't know just who might be able to provide that additional offensive power just yet, it seems. But Central Control is looking for other potential Senshi now, even as we speak, last I heard, just the same, Ami."

"Will this Dark Kingdom likely keep a regular schedule of when they might attack and seek to drain energy, then? I'd really like to know, for I do have a civilian life to live as well, you know, Kiku."

"It's too early to say just yet one way or another. But if I'm not too mistaken here, don't count on it. They could attack at any time whatsoever, whether day or night, and you Senshi may just happen to find yourselves battling them periodically when most other people would normally be sleeping in their own beds, wherever they might be."

"I see, Kiku. Do we really have a choice, then, on whether or not we're Senshi?"

"Evidently not. That's if you don't want to see the world perhaps conquered or destroyed somehow by them, of course, Ami."

Eventually, the three girls decided to part for the rest of the late afternoon, if not the rest of the evening or night, as the case might then be for each of them. Ami left first, and then Usagi did, not more than another five or ten minutes later, in any case at all here. Kiku soon put away all the stuff that they both left behind in it as needed, where needed, before leaving herself, some length of time after Usagi left the secret room behind quite well enough here. Once that was done well enough to actually satisfy her sufficiently enough here, Kiku herself eventually left the secret room as well. She soon slipped into a nearby currently-deserted alley, and shifted as needed and desired into her feline form as Luna, once it was sufficiently safe enough for her to do so here, in fact.

Luna then decided to do at least a little scouting out of the Azabu Juuban area in cat form, and soon came upon at least a few unidentifiable power signatures in various places in and around Azabu Juuban. One of them seemed to have a scent of wood to it, and another a scent of smoke, at least, to it, to name just two of those yet-unidentified scents she was then picking up when she detected those same unidentifiable power signatures, in fact.

Luna then scouted out of the Azabu Juuban area for at least a few hours, if not even longer than just a few hours, while still staying in her cat form, before eventually deciding to call it a night at about 10:30 pm or so, more or less. After doing so long enough to suit her sufficiently enough here, she then went to her supposed aunt's residence, and did the same things that she'd done the night before there for quite some time indeed. Including, quite obviously enough, at least a little sleeping there, for that matter. She slept quite soundly indeed until just about 6:45 in the morning, and then began her day as needed here and now, quite naturally enough, of course.

* * *

That hereby concludes Chapter Two of _Guardians of the Dreamers_. A word of notice here, though, if I may, people. I may not necessarily follow the canonical order of awakening for each Senshi and/or Knight-type character in this story here. So you may not see Rei Hino awaken next as a Senshi, if that's true for at least the next Senshi and/or Knight-type character to awaken as such here. It could very well be Makoto or someone else entirely who awakens next as either a Senshi or Knight-type character on the Senshi side of the conflict between them and the Dark Kingdom, just so you all know this quite well enough here, everyone. Until later, then, I'll close this particular discussion here, and I'll also hope that you will all leave me some well-thought-out reviews and/or private comments regarding this and/or any other chapters for this particular story that are also quite clean, quite courteous, and quite constructive here, of course. With no further ado, off I now go to start planning at least the next chapter or two of this story, then. TUS out.


	3. Chapter Three: The Third Dreamer Awakes

In the last chapter, Usagi was joined in the life of a Senshi by Ami, when Ami became Sailor Mercury. And Kiku/Luna had begun to pick up hints of other potential future Senshi not too long after that. I am going to mix up some things here for story purposes that you might not normally expect me to, people. Or at least start to, anyway, if I haven't already done so enough here in this particular story of mine. I hope that you all actually come to enjoy the aforementioned changing of things here at least a little bit, if not a lot, then.

A third Senshi will become part of Usagi's Senshi group later in the chapter, whether that new Senshi is Rei Hino or not, for sure, though. And we will see two changes of current mission leaders for the Dark Kingdom, at least on a temporary basis, if not a permanent one, in it. Who will be promoted to such a position and who will be demoted from such a position, you'll all just have to read to find out well enough, of course, people. The chapter will be quite full of action, I expect, and it will likely cover at least a few weeks, if not at least a month or so, of time, for that matter.

With no further ado, then, people, I therefore give you the next chapter of this particular story, if I may. Hope you all enjoy it, and that you will periodically leave some quite clean, quite courteous, and quite constructive reviews for it and/or any other present or future chapter to this story, of course. Until later, then, TUS out!

* * *

Chapter Three: The Third Dreamer Awakes

* * *

Several days later, after several very strange disappearances indeed of any number of school girls from assorted Tokyo-area schools, Usagi and Ami were then talking to each other somewhere near the Crown Arcade shortly after school had ended for them both on the current day. As they did so, and as they were heading towards that Arcade for a while, several police cars suddenly came racing past them, and heading off towards a particular Shinto temple elsewhere in Azabu Juuban. Not too much later, Naru and another girl came up to them both, and joined the conversation that Usagi was then having with Ami just as soon as they could do so easily and fairly enough here. Kiku/Luna wasn't currently with Usagi and/or Ami, however, having told them both some time earlier that she had some things to check out by herself in very short order, just as soon as she could possibly tell them both that quite well enough.

Usagi soon asked what was going on, and Naru said that several girls had apparently gotten on a bus periodically near a certain Shinto temple, and hadn't been seen since they'd done that, for at least the last day or two, if not even longer than that. Usagi said, "That doesn't sound good, Naru. Are you sure they just didn't get lost or something, somewhere? You do know that Tokyo is one of the most populated cities in the world, right?"

"Of course I do, Usagi. But this seems to be much more than just some random girls getting lost every so often, in fact. I don't know why, but I think something's happening that shouldn't be happening, for some yet-unknown and yet-incomprehensible reason here."

"If you say so, Naru. I just think, though, that things are not necessarily as you think they are, for some yet-unknown reason," said Usagi.

"Well, don't be surprised too much if I'm right, though, just the same, Miss Tsukino. You might be right, or you could be wrong, but hopefully, in any case, those young girls will show up again soon," said Naru's friend Sango Nishiyaka, a pre-teen girl with long brown hair, medium green eyes, and somewhat tanned skin.

Some time later, then, Naru and Sango parted from Usagi and Ami, and the latter two soon arrived at the Arcade. They spent at least a little time in the main part of the Arcade, quite naturally enough. And then they both went back to the secret room for it so that they could hopefully both enjoy themselves at least a bit more away from other people, at least, if not for any other reason or reasons whatsoever, with each other.

* * *

Meanwhile, elsewhere in Juuban, Mamoru was at a bookstore looking for some science-type books. As he was then doing so, Miss Haruna and a number of other women then entered the same store for at least a little while, if not a long while. Eventually, Mamoru encountered Miss Haruna and her apparent friends, or at least her current companions. And they all got to talking with each other for a little while, even after leaving the store together with each other. Mamoru recommended a restaurant elsewhere in Juuban when one of the women asked where a good Chinese place was, and they thanked him for that advice.

All of a sudden, one of the women then with Mamoru and Miss Haruna said, "Haruna, this guy looks like a fine man here, it seems to me."

Miss Haruna said, after looking him over more than she'd yet done, "He looks all right, I suppose, Kumishi."

"Are you kidding? He looks great. No, he looks gorgeous! I dare you to go out with him at least once. And he looks moneyed, for that matter, too, for some yet-unknown reason," said the woman referred to as Kumishi, in very short order.

"I really don't think that's a good idea here. I mean, we only just met, you see, girls," said Miss Haruna.

"Take a chance for once, Haruna," said a second woman near Haruna, Kumishi, and Mamoru now.

"The last time I dated a random guy off the street, Nashiki, the date went horrible. No way am I going to risk that again, if I can help it."

"Okay, so I goofed the last time I selected a random guy for you to go out on a date with. How many times is that out of perhaps thirty in the last five or so years, more or less?" asked Nashiki, a woman of about 26 or so years old, apparently.

"About half the time, Nashiki, if memory serves," said Miss Haruna.

The woman who'd asked about good Chinese places a little while before then said, "Haruna, so Nashiki isn't necessarily good at picking potential dates for you. But she still is right. You need to get out more than you often do. I'd bet that your students would generally be able to do at least a little bit better, if not a lot better, in your various classes if you just didn't stress out so much about you not being able to find a steady boyfriend or a future husband, if I'm not too mistaken here."

"And what if a date with this young man goes wrong too, Aikanshu?"

"Then that's a chance you'll have to take, I think. Listen, Haruna, if it bombs, I'll let you have free food and drinks for the next two weeks at my Italian-themed restaurant, or for your next five trips to it, whichever is later."

Kumishi said, "Free clothes from my fashion design line for the next year, if it does."

And Nashiki said, "Five weekends any time you want at my vacation home for the next year, as well, from me."

"And if it doesn't?"

"Then we each get your temporary services as our chief helper, if we so decide, for one month apiece after school at our places of business at half-pay," said Kumishi.

Miss Haruna thought for a while about the offers made by her current female companions, and finally said, "If this young man agrees, and only if he does, I will take you three up on your offers. Otherwise, I won't."

"Fair enough," said Nashiki, not too much later. She soon asked, "Chiba-san, what do you think?"

Mamoru considered his apparent options here, and then said, "It's not generally my style to date a random woman off the street either, but I suppose in this case, at least, I can make an exception. A very RARE exception, mind you, ladies, but an exception, nevertheless."

"Understood," said Nashiki, after a little while. "As a matter of fact, I just happen to have a pair of tickets to a play that I can't actually attend now, for something has just come up for me that I will have to attend to at that time. So I'm willing to give them to you free of charge, rather than to see them go to waste, if you're interested enough."

"And the play in question, perhaps?" asked Mamoru.

"I believe it's 'La Boheme,' but I'm not too sure of that at the moment," said Nashiki.

"Very well. I haven't seen it for a while, if I'm not mistaken," said Mamoru.

"Good. Then you and Haruna here can attend it after your dinner at 'Bamboo Jungle,' perhaps," said Kumishi.

"Perhaps. When would be a good time for this date, then?" asked Mamoru.

Miss Haruna thought for a while, before saying, finally, "How about 6:30 tomorrow evening, Chiba-san?"

Mamoru considered that for a while, and then said, "Perhaps I might be able to make it then. But it would perhaps be much better if we made it some time around 7 or so tomorrow evening, I think, for some yet-unknown reason."

"Fine, 7 or so tomorrow evening, if at all possible. Is that acceptable, ladies?" asked Miss Haruna.

"Yes, we suppose it is. But if you don't at least try to date him within the next week, then our offers of benefits to you here are withdrawn, at least for now, Haruna," said Kumishi, a little while later.

"Understood, ladies," said Miss Haruna.

Mamoru and the four women conversed for just a little while longer before Mamoru eventually said that he now had other things to attend to at the present time. Most of the women were not pleased to see him go, but they still let him go. Miss Haruna, though, thought he looked somewhat familiar, somehow, without knowing just why she did so here and now, in fact.

* * *

Meanwhile, at a temple of some sort, a young woman was attending to several things on its grounds. An older man elsewhere on its grounds, not too far away, was then trying to hit on several young ladies, and his name was Yukoshuji. Though he was not often called that by a lot of people, and especially not by his granddaughter, for the obvious reasons, and perhaps many others that weren't necessarily so obvious. The aforementioned granddaughter was trying to ignore the fact that her grandfather was hitting on young ladies about her age, more or less, but was having a great deal of difficulty in doing so well enough. Finally, though, she snapped, just as Usagi and several other girls appeared on the temple's grounds, and as they were briefly talking with her grandfather about a few things. A bad feeling of some yet-unknown sort then entered her mind, and she reached inside her outer temple garments for a scroll of some sort. Which she then applied very quickly to Usagi's forehead, thinking that she was the thing or person then behind the bad feeling that'd just entered her mind. Usagi fell back, and nearly showed too much under her school uniform's skirt, in fact, before she quickly put her skirt back down so that Yukoshuji couldn't see under it well enough in time.

He nearly got a glimpse of something lacy, at least, but Usagi had somehow still had enough of a mental sense about her at the present time to keep him from doing so well enough, just the same. However, Usagi was still knocked for a loop, at least a little bit, if not a lot, at the present time. So the young women soon carried her into a room in the nearby temple, and lay her down on a futon for a little while, until she could fully regain her senses well enough at the current time.

Suddenly a very angry woman came bursting into the room where Usagi and several others were then present, and accused the young woman who'd mistakenly jumped Usagi of being involved with the disappearances of several girls who'd been on a bus that came through the temple's general area in Juuban. The ebony-haired young woman who'd mistakenly jumped Usagi said that she wasn't involved in the disappearances of those girls, and that the buses in question were not affiliated with the temple in any way whatsoever, as far as she then knew or was concerned at the current time. She also said that the police had investigated those disappearances in the temple area, and had found no clues of that possibly being the case well enough either. So the woman eventually left, albeit quite reluctantly, quite naturally enough.

After Usagi and the other girls finally left the temple grounds, that young woman then went into another room on the grounds, and began meditating in front of a fire for a while, at least. From somewhere nearby, yet hidden well enough from any animals or people, then, a pair of eyes and a pair of ears watched and listened to that very same young woman, until she left the fire room behind well enough for quite some length of time.

Once the area of the fire room was cleared of anyone else's known presence well enough at the current time, the eyes and ears' owner then came out from their most recent hiding place, in cat form, and headed into it. She hurried herself into it quite quickly indeed, quite naturally enough. And then they shifted into their human form not too much later, once they were quite certain that they were sufficiently safe from being caught alone in it by anyone or anything at all needlessly, in fact. The human form belonged specifically to Kiku Mahini, technically-speaking, at least. Kiku soon secured all known entrances into the fire room, and took a device of some sort out of a pocket in the pink and white jacket she was then wearing, once that was done quite well enough at the current time. She used that device to take readings of the fire then blazing in that room, among other things she did with that device, for at least ten or fifteen minutes, if not even longer than that. Eventually, though, she thought she saw a vision of some sort in the fire, and took note of that, just before suddenly hearing sounds of footsteps beginning to head towards where she now was on the temple grounds. She therefore quickly unlocked the same entrances to the fire room before they could get too close to know that she was there, and then she left the room behind again in very short order, in cat form, just as she'd originally entered it in the first place. But before she finally did so well enough, she then hid a transformation device of some sort bearing a stylized astronomical planetary sign of Mars in a place where only the person meant to find it likely ever would well enough, somehow.

Just a few very brief minutes later, at most, then, Luna vacated the entire temple complex where she'd just been for a while, at least. And she then set off for the Arcade, quite naturally enough, for all the obvious reasons here and now. She eventually came to the secret room for the Senshi there, and joined both Usagi and Ami there when she did.

It wasn't long before Luna became Kiku again, and she soon informed Usagi and Ami of whatever she'd learned well enough on the current day, of course. Ami asked, "So do you know who this next potential Senshi might be just yet, Kiku?"

"Central Control had me check her out, but I still haven't encountered her in person directly. They didn't yet give me her name, either, so I don't actually know just who she might be in her life right now," answered Kiku, while sipping some tea then in front of her.

"I see. Describe this suspected next potential Senshi, then, if you please, Kiku," said Ami, a few moments later. "Perhaps I can run a scan of the area around where you were earlier, and see if I can identify her well enough, somehow, before the next bus of passengers disappears like others have of late."

Kiku then described the young woman in question at some length. And Ami began setting up a periodically-repeating in-depth scan of the local area around the temple for people who lived in the area of it, if not at it. It took her a few minutes to do so well enough to suit her sufficiently well at the current time. After which, Ami soon made the aforementioned scan begin, quite naturally enough.

The three conversed with each other for quite a bit longer until Ami said she had something she had to do then. Usagi soon left as well, for her own home, in fact. Which soon left Kiku alone for a while in the secret room for the Senshi, for that matter.

Kiku worked on certain things she had recently begun to work on there for a while, before eventually leaving the secret room as well, and then the Arcade, as she so decided to do. Once she left the Arcade, she did a bit more scouting around in the local area, for various reasons. After she did so for quite a while, per previous orders to that effect from Central Control, she eventually went to Usagi's place in feline form. When she did so, her charge's family was in the middle of supper, as Luna soon saw through a nearby window there. So Luna went up the tree and into Usagi's bedroom through the then-open window. Whereupon, she quickly curled up on the foot of Usagi's bed and napped as she waited for Usagi to return to her own bedroom again for at least a little while, if not for a long while.

By the time that Usagi finally returned to her room, and most likely for the rest of the night, at that, it was rapidly approaching 9:30 at night. For after supper ended for the Tsukinos, Usagi had spent much of the evening and/or night playing a game with her family for a while, if not doing other things with them as well. Luna woke up not long after Usagi returned to her room, by which time, Usagi was then changing into her usual pink pajamas, in fact.

As Usagi changed her clothes here and now, Luna eventually said, once it was safe enough for her to do so well enough, "It seems that another bus will perhaps be taken tomorrow, if what I heard earlier is sufficiently correct, Usagi. And I expect you to do what you must to prevent it, if at all possible."

"And just how do you expect me to do that, Luna?"

"You must find out who is taking them, and defeat those who are. You must, or even more buses will continue to disappear like they have been, no doubt, until someone keeps them from being taken as they have been of late."

"And just how do you expect me to find that out? I don't have any fancy gizmos like the one you gave Ami, Luna," said Usagi, as she pulled down the rest of her pajama top to her waist level, and turned to face Luna on her bed here and now.

"That's why you are going to come to the bus stop where all the buses have been disappearing from until we get to the bottom of this, Usagi. And I will not take 'No' for an answer, for that matter. Even if we have to go there for a week or more to do so. You might not be able to locate them well enough, normally, but perhaps they'll do something instead that lets you know where they are, or even reveal themselves to you, for that matter, I think. We will then do what we can to defeat them, of course, for the obvious reasons."

"And what if we're taken as well, Luna?"

"Then maybe we can recover the buses already taken, Usagi, somehow."

"Are you sure about that?"

"No, of course not, but I still think that we might be able to, somehow, just the same, Usagi."

Usagi soon moved right on over to her desk and worked on at least some, if not all, of her homework for a while. After working on it for a while, she eventually moved to her bed, and climbed under her covers. She was quite quickly asleep after she did that well enough, and quite soundly asleep indeed, for that matter.

Luna watched her charge sleep for at least a few minutes, before deciding to leave her room for the rest of the night. After she did so, she then went back to her supposed aunt's home again in very short order, in human form, quite naturally enough, and went to sleep there herself not too much later.

* * *

The following day, after school, Luna found Usagi and Ami walking with each other towards the Arcade, and soon made them go to the area where the buses had all been disappearing from. Usagi didn't want to go, but Ami didn't mind it, and Luna forced her to go there, somehow. Moments after they got there, another bus disappeared, and went into a black hole, perhaps.

That, of course, greatly surprised Luna, Ami, and Usagi, for the obvious reasons. Luna soon said, "Now do you believe me that something's up that shouldn't be happening, and that it's not just someone making something like this up, Usagi?"

"Well, I guess I have to now, don't I, Luna?"

"Yes, of course you do, Usagi. So what do you plan to do now?"

"Well, I suppose I have no real choice in the matter now. I suppose we're going to have to stop them somehow, if at all possible."

Ami soon agreed, and then said, "Let's go walking around near the temple you saw earlier, Luna. I want to get a better look at its area for future reference, if I may."

"Good idea, Ami." The two girls and Luna soon walked around in the area of the temple where the young woman who lived with her grandfather was seen earlier. Ami did a lot of looking around it for a while, moving in periodically-shrinking circles around the temple as she did so in the company of both Usagi and Luna, for that matter. Eventually, they barely picked up signs of an argument between two or more people, before they suddenly dropped off, for some yet-unknown reason or reasons.

Ami and Usagi went towards where those signs had been coming from, along with Luna, but none of the three were able to find any usable enough clues to what had just happened well enough, somehow. At least not yet, if they ever would, anyway, that is. So they eventually went about their respective businesses again, with or without each other, quite naturally enough. And they eventually parted from each other, quite possibly for the rest of the night, by the way, when they did so.

As Usagi was then returning to her family's place for the rest of the night, she saw a most unexpected sight indeed. She saw her usual verbal sparring partner with Miss Haruna, believe it or not. And she began wondering why he was with her teacher at that time, seeing as it was nearly 10 pm at night now, more or less. She therefore began trying to spy on her teacher and Mamoru, but eventually was spotted by Naru, who was herself returning to her own home for the rest of it. Naru asked, "What are you doing, Usagi?" When she asked that, Usagi nearly gave away her current position behind a brick wall, due to her being startled just now by Naru's encountering of her here. But Usagi somehow still managed to not reveal where she was at the present time, just the same.

"My chief nemesis is with Miss Haruna now, for some reason, believe it or not, Naru. Why is that jerk with our teacher now?" asked Usagi, as she pointed towards where Miss Haruna was laughing at something that Mamoru had just said mere moments before.

Naru looked where Usagi then was indicating, and then said, "I really don't know, but she seems to be having a lot of fun with that handsome man right now, if I read her body language well enough."

"That jerk is NOT handsome, Naru!"

"Oh, he isn't?" asked Naru,with a teasing grin then on her face.

"No, of course he's not!"

"Miss Haruna seems to think he is, for some reason. Oh, my, you're so NOT going to believe this, Usagi, but they're both getting in a fancy sports car with each other. A very fancy one, at that, it seems," said Naru, all of a sudden, much to Usagi's very great surprise.

Mamoru held open the passenger-side door of a 1970's-era Porsche 911 with a custom-painted mostly black body with at least some, red and white trim, at least, if nothing else as well, on it. Miss Haruna gladly let him help her into the car, and then she took her seat where appropriate for her to do that well enough. Once that was done well enough to suit Mamoru sufficiently enough, he then closed her door, and went around to the driver's side of the car. He soon got behind the wheel of the car, and started it up. Minutes later, he and Miss Haruna were off again, for a destination not yet known to either Naru or Usagi, for sure.

"Oh, great. The jerk is taking her somewhere, and I have absolutely no idea where they're going."

"Well, one thing is certain, at least, Usagi. If not more than one," said Naru, a little while later.

"And that is?"

"You and I won't find out tonight, for sure. And another thing that is certain now is that Miss Haruna is happy, for once, which might make it easier for you to avoid detention tomorrow. Especially if she dates that guy again, for example. Also, Umino doesn't even know about this before we do, for once, I think, which will be something, you know."

"Perhaps you're right on all that. But if that jerk ever hurts Miss Haruna, he will have much cause to regret it, if I can possibly make him do so, somehow, just the same."

"Understood. But when was the last time that you ever saw Miss Haruna so happy since we first were students of hers?"

"Hardly ever, I believe. But where did that jerk get that car he was using, and how?"

"I don't really know. But I do know that is a decades-old car, just the same, if I'm not too mistaken here."

"Seriously, Naru?" asked Usagi, even more surprised to hear that from Naru here, in fact.

"Yes, seriously. My father had a car like that, if I somehow remember correctly enough, when he was dating my mother in his younger days, albeit a perhaps older one."

Eventually, Usagi and Naru parted from each other, and didn't see each other again for the rest of the night. Usagi went almost immediately to bed once she got home well enough for it, for that matter. And so she slept, quite naturally enough.

* * *

The following morning, Usagi ran into her nemesis on her way to school, and collided quite hard indeed with him. She began to argue with him, quite naturally enough, and suddenly said, "If you ever needlessly hurt the woman that you were out with last night, jerk, I will really make you regret it."

Mamoru said, "You know nothing of what I did last night, Odango."

"Oh, really? Then why did I and Naru see you getting into a fancy car with someone last night who I know you'd never been with before?"

"Were you spying on me, Odango Atama? If so, then I would have to say you're jealous that I could find a date, when you haven't even found one yet, most likely."

"No, not at first, at least. But if you ever hurt my teacher needlessly, you will wish you never had, if I can ever make that the case, somehow, Chiba!"

"That woman is your teacher, Odango Atama?"

"That's right, Minus-Zero! My teacher! So you had better treat her right, or I will get after you like I've never yet done before, if and whenever I possibly can."

"Oh, really. She seemed to have a lot of fun last night, in fact. I even took her to my place for a while, believe it or not, and she slept on my couch last night."

"You're lying!" shouted Usagi, getting even redder and redder as she considered what he'd just said here to her.

"And, what's more, we even kissed, believe it or not, Odango," said Mamoru, watching her face very closely indeed.

She suddenly flashed out a fist or two, without any warning at all, and then punched him several times in the stomach, so that he eventually landed quite hard indeed right on his own behind somewhat still near her here and now, in fact. "My teacher would never kiss the likes of you, Mamoru-baka! She has much better taste in guys to perhaps ever kiss than to definitely ever kiss creeps like you! As if she would ever kiss you!"

"The same teacher who's quite likely to give you detentions after school if you're too late for it often enough, Odango Atama?"

"You're impossible!"

"I suppose that's why you love me so much, then, Odango!"

"What? I DON'T love you, you jerk!"

"Oh, really! Then why do you seem to want to kiss me senseless at times, Odango?"

"You're imagining things, Mop-head! Meanwhile, now that you've mentioned it, I'd best get to school. Remember what I said, though. And remember it well. If you EVER hurt my teacher needlessly, you most definitely will feel my great wrath, without a doubt!" Then Usagi fled the area for her school here, for all the obvious reasons, of course.

When Usagi finally got to school well enough, Ami soon found her and drew her off to an unoccupied corner in their classroom. Once it was safe enough for her to do so well enough, Ami then said, "Usagi, my scans of the area around the temple that both you and Luna were at earlier seem to have identified the official permanent residents of the temple complex there. One is Yukoshuji Kibatsu, and the other is Rei Hino. A third sentient life sign of some sort was also detected earlier, it seems. But I have not yet been able to tell who it belongs to well enough, unfortunately. Besides those three, my scans also picked up the life signs, somehow, of two crows, for that matter."

Usagi had a fairly good day at school, for once, and then left school behind in very short order with Ami and Kiku, much to her own secret regret, for the place from which the buses had been disappearing for a while. As she and the other two girls did so, she also told them of what she and Naru had both seen the night before. Ami soon said, "Interesting. That might explain why she was so happy today, then, Usagi."

"But her and the jerk together? That seems so wrong on SO many levels, Ami-chan."

"How old do you think she is, then, Usagi?" asked Kiku, as she knitted part of a sweater near both Usagi and Ami here.

"At least 25 or so, I think, if I'm not too mistaken here, Kiku." Usagi then had a manga book in her hands as she said that and as she was still reading it.

"And what about him?" asked Ami, as she sat on a bench and read from a chemistry book for a while.

"19 or so, perhaps, at least? And possibly even older than that, come to think of it?"

"He's apparently a college sophomore now, according to my sources, Usagi," said Kiku, a little while later.

"Which means that he's at least 18 or 19, then, if my math is correct enough. Right, Ami?" asked Usagi.

"Yes, that's right. What is his name? Perhaps I could see if I could find him online somehow, then, Usagi."

"Mamoru Chiba, technically, it seems. However, he should seriously be called Mamoru-baka, at least, I think, Ami."

Ami soon secretly took out her mini-computer and began searching for information about Mamoru Chiba, once it was safe enough for her to do just that well enough. A little while later, she then said, "He is now 20 years old as of August 3, 1970, it seems. He attends the same school as Motoki, at least, and is seeking to become a doctor in the future, if I'm reading this information well enough here and now."

* * *

The three young women bided their time for a while, before Ami suddenly remembered something she had to do not too far away for her mother, a doctor at some Tokyo-area hospital. "Unfortunately, you two, I just remembered something that I now have to do for my mother. I'll have to come back as soon as I can. Hopefully I can return before it's too late to keep the next bus from getting taken."

"Go then, Ami, if you must. We'll handle things here if we have to in your absence to the best of our respective abilities, then," said Kiku.

Ami then quickly ran from the area of the bus stop now in question here just as speedily as she currently could. Kiku and Usagi watched her go for a few moments, and then turned back towards the street where the bus would come down to that very same bus stop to pick up its next load of passengers. They waited for a while, until it began to come in sight, before they got ready to get on. Or at least one of them did, if not both of them, anyway. All of a sudden, a very strong breeze of some yet-unknown sort from some unknown location sent them both sailing behind nearby bushes, and caused Kiku to unexpectedly shift into her feline form mere seconds later. Usagi checked on Luna briefly, and then called out, once she was quite sure it was safe enough for her to do so here and now, while also holding her Luna Pen, "Disguise Power, turn me into a Bus company supervisor or something, and make it snappy!"

Once she was sufficiently disguised, she quickly grabbed up Luna and snuck onto the bus as others were also getting on it. After the bus was sufficiently loaded, the disguised Usagi said, "Driver, pull over, for this bus is impounded in the name of the Tokyo Metropolitan Bus Lines for making bogus trips! And I mean NOW, without a doubt!"

No more than about a minute or two later, the bus's doors closed, and the bus lifted off, heading directly for another black hole of some sort. Before Ami could prevent the bus from doing so, as she was running back to the bus stop, the bus was quickly swallowed up by the black hole in its entirety.

Minutes later, at most, perhaps, the bus came to a stop and ejected both the disguised Usagi and Luna from it very quickly and very suddenly indeed. Usagi bawled briefly after landing from that ejection somewhat hard, but soon stood up, and powered up as soon as the driver began revealing themselves as a youma.

Sailor Moon quickly found herself battling the youma for a while, and at least until Luna somehow actually found Rei lying between where several buses seemed to be parked. After which, Luna then asked Rei if she'd actually found something very special indeed somewhere in the fire room, some length of time before. Rei asked Luna just how she was then able to talk, and Luna said, "No time at the moment, young lady. I hope you have the item I left for you there."

Rei reached under her temple-style clothing, and found a pen-like transformation device of some sort. "Is this what you're talking about, cat?" asked Rei, as she showed it to Luna.

"Yes, it is. Take it and say, simply, 'Mars Power, Make-up!'"

Rei quickly complied, and soon found herself in an outfit much like Sailor Moon's, but mostly red instead of pink. She then followed Luna back towards where the battle was still being fought between the youma and Sailor Moon, to at least some degree, before she suddenly found herself saying, "Mars Fire, Ignite!"

She did this several times, which then allowed Moon to pull back from the monster at least a little bit, for at least a few moments. Mars then battled for a bit with the youma before Moon was sufficiently ready to rejoin the battle here and now. Moon soon called Mars over to her side briefly, and did the same for Luna, while the youma tried to figure out which Sailor to then fight here. And they all conversed very quietly indeed with each other for just a little while, before Moon said, "I'm going to use my tiara to finish off the youma, you two. Mars, I need you to somehow actually surround my tiara with some of your fire as it begins to head right towards the youma. Then make a run for the nearest bus, and see what you can do once you get there, if you can. Luna, you should do the same for another bus. I will see to another myself, if I can, as well, once the youma is destroyed sufficiently well. Understand, you two?"

Mars soon nodded, and Luna did the same, not too much later. "As for the other buses here, perhaps the people on those other buses can follow us out well enough, somehow, for that matter."

Luna said, "I see at least five buses here, if I'm not too mistaken here, Sailor Moon."

"Perhaps one or more of our allies or potential allies might actually be on one of the other buses, if not more than one, Luna."

"Sure, we could possibly get to the buses, but how are we actually going to get them out of this place well enough, then?"

Luna suddenly saw a blue-colored beam of bright light, and said, "Sailor Mercury is now trying to keep the black hole we both came through on our bus to here open, in fact, Sailor Moon. We must bring all the buses there, somehow, before she can no longer do so well enough, you two."

"Then, by all means, let's finish this youma off, and all get the blazes out of here, so to speak, of course."

No more than two minutes later, then, Sailor Moon sent her tiara towards the youma, and Mars surrounded the in-flight tiara with a lot of fire from herself as it flew towards the youma still in question here and now. Just as soon as Moon then indicated she should cut off the present use of her fire, Mars began heading very earnestly indeed for the nearest then-available bus to her. By which time, Luna was herself already quite a bit of the way towards another bus, in fact. Sailor Moon then somehow guided her tiara through telekinesis of some sort directly at the youma, even while the youma tried to avoid it totally. And she was then somehow able to actually hit it severely enough to moondust it completely. Just as soon as she saw it was permanently moondusted, then, she scurried off towards the now-nearest bus to her, and soon climbed on board it quite easily enough.

From another bus, she suddenly heard, in an obviously quite masculine tone of voice, "Going my way, Sailor ladies?" Of course, she had to look in that direction, as did Sailor Mars and Luna/Kiku and Sailor V, who'd somehow actually found herself on a bus some length of time before. The voice in question here, in actual reality, was that of Tuxedo Kamen, for that matter.

"Sure, why not, Tuxedo Kamen?"

"Good, Sailor Moon. Let's get out of here before it's too late, then, of course!" called out Tuxedo Kamen.

Not too much later, then, five buses were somehow directly linked together, with Tuxedo Kamen's bus taking the point of the V soon formed by them all here. To his left in the V formation from nearer to farther away were Moon and Mars. While to his right in it were Kiku and V. Other buses were somehow magnetically tied together in chains of some sort directly behind any of the five lead buses then forming the lead V, from what everyone could then tell well enough here and now.

Tuxedo Kamen's current bus quickly led the way to the black hole that was trying to shrink Sailor Mercury's beam of blue light now holding it open, for all the obvious reasons just as speedily as it currently could do just that. And it was the first of the previously-taken buses to return to Earth through it, mere moments before the other buses began emerging from the black hole that was now in question here as well. Second came Moon's, followed by Kiku's, Mars's, and Venus's lead ones, in that particular order. Then any number of others then connected magnetically to the lead buses emerged as well, with them somehow actually having more and more success in doing so well enough as even more buses emerged from that Dark Kingdom area of sorts. Finally, the last previously-taken bus emerged sufficiently well from the aforementioned black hole, and everyone soon breathed quite a bit better here and now, of course.

Tuxedo Kamen quickly disappeared again right after the last bus and its passengers had been sufficiently accounted for and checked out by the Sailors, as he'd often been known to do in the past, based on what the Senshi currently knew of him well enough. Sailor V disappeared almost immediately after Tuxedo Kamen did so as well, for that matter. By the time that several ambulances and/or other emergency-type people finally got to where there were buses lined up for at least half a mile on a random street somewhere in Azabu Juuban, then, all three Senshi and Kiku had actually vacated the immediate area quite well indeed, for the obvious reasons here and now. If not for at least a mile or so on it, come to think of it.

Usagi and the other two now-known Senshi now on her still-new team of Senshi eventually made their respective ways back to their respective residences, and ultimately remained at each of them for the rest of their respective nights. Especially Usagi, for that matter, in truth. Usagi eventually retired to her bed for the rest of the night, and was quite soundly asleep not much more, if even that, than just two or three minutes past the time when her head then hit her pillow well enough and safely enough. And so the Senshi and Kiku/Luna soon fell quite soundly asleep, for sure.

* * *

Over the next few weeks, then, Sailor Mars periodically worked with Sailors Moon and Mercury while she and they got more and more used to her being a Senshi now. Whether in battles or in training sessions, she still did so quite often indeed, if and whenever possible. Kiku periodically trained them and trained with them all, as that periodically came to be more and more the case for all three of the now-found Senshi here, as well. And Kiku eventually let Rei know that she was also Luna every so often, for that matter, when she actually did need to know that well enough in her own life.

Tuxedo Kamen and Sailor V showed up periodically during various battles with assorted youma that the Dark Kingdom released in order to hopefully better increase their energy reserves. While all those youma generally were destroyed, or at least most, if not all, of them were, the Senshi still couldn't always keep the Dark Kingdom's energy reserves from somehow increasing at all before, during, or after various battles. Nor could Kiku, Sailor V, or Tuxedo Kamen, for that matter.

In their civilian lives, Mamoru and the Senshi periodically associated with each other, even though they didn't recognize each other outside of their Senshi forms unless they already knew of their double lives well enough, of course. For instance, Mamoru didn't know Sailor Moon's civilian identity just yet, nor did he know yet that he was also Tuxedo Kamen. Usagi knew Rei and Ami outside their respective Senshi forms, for the obvious reasons, now, and they both knew that Usagi was Sailor Moon, as well.

Some length of time after Rei became the Senshi of Mars, her school was heavily damaged by a multi-youma attack. Several nearby schools then took in the then-affected students as necessary and as possible. Rei was one of the ones selected almost immediately to be taken in by Usagi and Ami's own school. Rei wasn't happy with having to be taken in by another school, of course, but she still eventually adjusted to that particular current fact of life. The affected students were then allowed to wear their usual school uniforms while attending their temporary schools, even if they were not necessarily standard for their temporary schools.

As for Mamoru and Miss Haruna, they quite unexpectedly indeed decided to continue dating each other. And they then did so at least once every week or two, in fact, after officially becoming a couple. Usagi kept as close an eye on them as she possibly could, while still also trying to be respectful enough of Miss Haruna's own potential or actual feelings here about Mamoru, though. Miss Haruna, for her own part, did not yet know of this particular periodical monitoring of her and Mamoru by Usagi at all, for sure. But she still began to lighten up at least a little bit more. And so did Mamoru, much to other people's considerable surprise, as they continued to spend time with each other outside of school, if and whenever possible.

As usual, Mamoru and Usagi periodically had their very heated arguments over various things, quite naturally enough. Usagi wasn't very happy with the fact that Mamoru was dating her teacher, but still tried to deal with it as best as she then could, just the same. Her teacher was roughly 25 or so years old, as far as Usagi could then recall well enough, at the current time. While Mamoru was himself about 20 years old, more or less, perhaps, seeing as he was now at least a college sophomore, as far as Usagi then knew well enough, in his own life.

She didn't know just why they were even dating each other yet, and she remained in the dark for quite a while longer. Even after the Dark Kingdom changed their current mission leader to another one, from one named Jadeite to one named Nephlyte. Jadeite was temporarily relieved as mission leader, but not eliminated from further potential or actual service to the Dark Kingdom, by the Dark Kingdom's Queen Beryl. She relieved him as mission leader, and imprisoned him somehow in a namesake stone for a while.

The Dark Kingdom still hadn't gathered enough energy to start awakening their true ruler well enough. But they still did change their plans to try to gain that energy for that purpose, when they suddenly changed their current mission leader from Jadeite to Nephlyte here. Instead of trying to drain many people of it at once, they tried focusing their energy-gathering attempts on just a few people at once, if not just one person at a time. Nephlyte deployed several Dark Kingdom agents, in a manner of speaking, who would search for potential victims to perhaps drain for their energy, for instance. And they would periodically brief him on those potential victims as the need then arose for them to do so, of course.

Among those they targeted for their energy were a photographer, a tennis player, an artist, and a doll-maker, for instance. And the Senshi still defeated the youma sent to help gather that energy more often than not, even if they weren't also able to prevent the loss of that energy to the Dark Kingdom. They targeted certain mostly random people at mostly random intervals. Sometimes shortly after their previous attempts to gather more energy for the Dark Kingdom, and sometimes not so soon after them. This confused the Senshi, Tuxedo Kamen, and Kiku/Luna considerably, of course, every so often. But they still all tried to deal with them as best as they then could at the present time, just the same.

Nephlyte periodically did a little scouting of his own whenever he masqueraded as a human male, taking on various identities as the mood, need, or desire for him to do so periodically arose. He hid his secret affiliation with the Dark Kingdom well, but not perfectly, for he had begun to slip at least a little every so often after he saw a certain young woman with auburn hair in a restaurant working as a waitress. Who that young woman was then was yet to be seen, most likely, but he still became interested in her. Yet, she resisted his attempts to gain her favor quite often, just the same, whenever they periodically encountered each other. Which intrigued him, perhaps, for back in the Dark Kingdom, not many young females did so, whenever he showed his interest in them to a sufficient enough degree.

For a while, up until at least the end of October, if not at least until the middle of November, then, the Senshi and their known associates periodically battled against youma and Nephlyte, before another Dark Kingdom General soon began itching for a chance to oppose the Senshi and their known allies later as well. That other Dark Kingdom General was named Zoisite, by the way. She soon began trying to topple Nephlyte from his current position as the Dark Kingdom's current mission leader, for that matter. Though she did so secretly, at least at first, she still did so. Zoisite began to periodically try to recruit other Dark Kingdom-affiliated beings to her cause, from any of the other then-known Generals' followers as of the present time. And many such beings did indeed join her cause from either Nephlyte or Jadeite's respective followings, much to the eventual dismay of those still loyal to their leaders, in fact. Even if their leaders might possibly then be imprisoned somehow within a stone at least once, if not more than that.

By the end of November, she felt that she'd recruited at least enough solid followers to then begin openly trying to topple Nephlyte from his current position as the Dark Kingdom's actual mission leader. Then she began to attempt sabotage of his efforts to gather energy for the Dark Kingdom, among other things she then did to try to topple Nephlyte from it. She greatly hoped that her current efforts to supplant Nephlyte would somehow come to convince Beryl to let her have a chance to oppose the Senshi and their known allies soon. Even if her aforementioned such efforts at present somehow hampered the Dark Kingdom's overall mission plan at least in the short-term, if not long-term, for that matter.

As soon as Nephlyte knew well enough of Zoisite's desire to usurp his current status as current mission leader for the Dark Kingdom, he then began to try to somehow actually block her efforts to that regard. However, he was not entirely successful with his attempts to hold onto his position well enough. He wasn't able to stop her from ultimately toppling him, but he still did manage to somehow weaken her own position in the Dark Kingdom at least a little bit, if not a lot, before he was himself imprisoned in a namesake stone of his own sufficiently well by the middle of December, at the very latest, in any case at all.

Little did Zoisite yet know that she herself would find even more opposition arrayed against her than either Jadeite or Nephlyte had so far had found against them in the human world. For while she had been plotting and executing her plans against Nephlyte, several future Senshi had begun to stir from periods of long dormancy, even if they hadn't yet been identified sufficiently well as potential or actual future Senshi somehow by anyone at all. Several people, at least, soon began to draw Central Control's periodic interest, if they hadn't already done so, somehow. But none of those people were yet confirmed to be potential or actual future Senshi material of a sort well enough. The scent of wood somewhere in or around the Juuban local area, though, did seem to get somewhat stronger periodically as even more time passed for at least a few people in it, in fact. And the scent of metal mixed with potential romance somehow began to periodically surface as well, for that matter. Not to mention the possibly barely-detectable or very faint new scents of other potential future members of Usagi/Sailor Moon's Senshi Team, by the way. Though the already-identified Sol System Senshi and most, if not all, of their already-known allies didn't yet know well enough why that was actually the case here and now. Or at least for the most part, if not entirely, they didn't, anyway.

Such was soon the current situation when Queen Beryl finally changed the Dark Kingdom's plans for world domination yet again, and when she then put Zoisite in charge of their new plans for it. Those particular plans of theirs soon changed from a primary mission of energy gathering to a primary mission to seek out and acquire several crystals of some sort or sorts that'd be somehow required for the eventual acquisition of the Imperium Silver Crystal that was quite strongly indeed rumored to have exceedingly great power locked within it. And the Dark Kingdom really wanted it a very great deal indeed, so that they would perhaps better be able to take over Earth, at least, if not any other potential or actual inhabited place anywhere at all in the entire Universe, with that very same power, if it was at all possible for them for them to ever do that somehow well enough.

* * *

I am leaving things off here, at least for the time being, if not for quite a while. I don't yet know just who the next Senshi might be, for sure, people. But you all can still rest quite assured indeed that there most definitely will be a fourth Senshi, at least, awakening in the next chapter of this story, just the same. Who they'd be remains to be seen until I add them into this story here, of course.

I leave you all with these questions, for future contemplation, though, at least. Will Mamoru continue to date Miss Haruna, or will he not? Will others stake their claim somehow on him, as well, either in the next chapter or other future chapters, so that he then is somehow tied to at least two or three women at the same time, if not more? When we start seeing the Rainbow Crystals appear, will they be found within the exact same people they were found in for at least one version of Sailor Moon canon, if not more than one? Will the youma be the same as they were in one or more of those canons, or will they be different than they were in any or all of them? Will the Senshi and their allies be able to fight well enough against them in the near future, in any case whatsoever? The answers to all these questions, and perhaps many more, will need to be found out later, for sure, people. I don't yet know totally just how the rest of this particular story will go. But, hopefully, by the time it's over, it will be a very good story, at least, of course. Please feel free to contemplate those questions and any others that you might think of, for that matter. And I hope to see many more quite clean, quite courteous, and quite constructive reviews from any or all of you for various chapters of this story, whether they're previous, current, or future chapters of it, by the way. Until later, then, I wish you all well, as usual, and hope to see you all again sometime soon. TUS out.


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